Reading the Mark of Athena-Rewrite
by Tgirl1934
Summary: This is the same as my other story 'Camp Half-Blood Reads the Mark of Athena' so there's no difference, just that there's no gods. But it's like any other 'reading the books' story, with a twist! Hope you like it! Rated T for cursing and swearing.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey people! This is my 'reading the books' rewrite of my old one 'Camp Half-Blood Reads the Mark of Athena' but I took out some of the characters and gods. It's just going to be the Hunters and the councilors, if that makes it better. I just had a lot of characters and thought that I didn't really need the gods and I didn't really use them, so what's the point? Anyway, here's my new story and I hope some of you will like it and I get a bunch of good reviews and no flames. And please, I know you might think that I don't need to start over, but I feel like I have to. Please understand that. Thanks bunches. Now, on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Chapter 1**

**Thalia' POV.**

* * *

I can't believe it, well...I can but I can't get over it. It's been a week since Annabeth, Jason, Piper, and Leo went on their quest to Greece after they got Percy and the other two of the seven for Camp Jupiter. I haven't seen that stupid Kelp Head since after the Titan War. And that's been, like, eight months. I just hope they're all okay. I just found my brother who was missing for, I don't know, seven, six years? Not sure, but it was too long. I just can't stand him, his girlfriend, his best friend, _my_ best friend, and my cousin going on a death quest. For all I know, they could be dead.

No. I won't accept that. I would go to the Underworld and get them out myself. Or better, get Nico to do it.

I walked over to Lady Artemis and the other Hunters. "M'Lady," I said to Artemis.

She looked up. "Yes?" She asked.

"Can I go walk around the perimeter?" I asked. "I need to get my thoughts straight."

"Of course, Thalia," Artemis smiled at me and I returned it. I nodded in thanks and walked toward the woods. I was just at the edge, when a bright, neon blue light engulfed me.

* * *

**Camp Half-Blood**

The councilors were all sitting at the ping pong table looking depressed. Will Solace, son of Apollo, was talking to Chris Rodriguez, son of Hermes and brains of the Hermes cabin/co-councilor, about the quest, with Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares. Katie Gardiner, daughter of Demeter, was talking to Lou Ellen, daughter of Hecate, about how to get the Stolls back for pranking her cabin. The Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor Stoll, sons of Hermes, were discussing about pranks while Travis was trying to set a ping pong on fire.

Butch, son of Iris, was trying to stick pencils up Clovis's, son of Hypnos, nose. Kylee McKenna, daughter of Tyche, was bored out of her mind while listening to her boyfriend Malcolm's, son of Athena, boring lectures. About what, she didn't care. Jared Sraze, son of Hebe, was talking to Nick black, son of Nike, about how to get a girl he liked. Brett Scout, son of Nemesis, was talking to Grover Underwood, Lord of the Wild, about how to seek out half-bloods.

Nyssa, daughter of Hephaestus, was arguing with Drew, daughter of Aphrodite, about how Drew's mother wasn't treating Nyssa's father nice. Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the Oracle of Delphi, was painting about and image she saw of the Great Prophecy. They were all waiting for Chiron, who was supposed to be coming from teaching archery, when everyone was engulfed in a bright, neon blue light.

* * *

All the campers were screaming as the fell from the sky. After being engulfed in a blue light, they were falling. From where, they were thinking the sky. Then, the falling stopped. All the campers opened their closed eyes, and looked below them. They all gasped. They were laying in a grassy plane, with green hills, bushy bushes, bloomed flowers, a bright blue sky with clouds in the sky. They looked around and saw lawn chairs with cushions/pillows, and a table with a book on it.

They also saw Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus and lieutenant of Artemis, sitting at the table reading a note. She stood. "Well," Thalia started, "you finally got here."

Travis Stoll raised his hand like he was in kindergarten. "What exactly is 'here'?" He asked.

Thalia sighed, wondering how she knew such a stupid person. "A shielded off area to mortals," She announced. "It's a place the gods created for heros to come here and relax. Apparently, they wanted us. Don't know why, though."

"Maybe it's something about the Great Prophecy," Katie spoke up.

Thalia shrugged. "Maybe, don't know," She said. "But there was a note I read about-"

Connor interrupted her, "About how you knew we were coming."

"Yes, but don't interrupt again, or you'll be losing a limb," Thalia snapped.

"What does the note say, Thals?" Grover asked.

Thalia cleared her throat and read:

_Dear demigods, satyr, and my wonderful Oracle,_

_We, the gods, have sent you a book about the seven's quest. Please don't jump to conclusions when you hear about some of the things the people in the book has said. More people will join you later on. Us gods, will not. We have godly duties-ha, I said duties-_snickers from Connor and Travis-_we have to do around Olympus. And other gods have people to see and things to do. *cough* Hermes *cough* _

_Happy reading,_

_Apollo, the awesomest god ever. And Hermes, the second awesomest god ever._

_P.S. Don't hurt anybody! Or any other word you can come up with that could involve hurting._

"Well," Brett said, "we now don't have to worry about Clarisse or Thalia hurting us."

Clarisse glared at him, and said venomously, "Doesn't mean I can't hurt you when we get back to camp." Brett swallowed hard and hid behind Nick for protection.

"We might as well read the book," Rachel said, and walked over to the table. She picked up the book and read the title in her head, then out loud: "The Mark of Athena."

"Do you think it might be about Annabeth?" Malcolm asked.

Before anyone could answer, Drew snapped, "Of course, you dolt! It's about the seven and Annabeth is obviously part of the seven!"

Kylee snapped this time, "He was just asking a question! But you'd need a few brain cells to know that."

Everyone 'ohh'ed. Some thinking *cough* Clarisse *cough*, _This could be a fight._

Malcolm stood up and walked over to them before a fight could start. "Okay, ladies!" He said. "Let's not fight." Kylee grumbled about stupid Aphrodite girls, but followed Malcolm over to the lawn chairs.

Once everyone was seated, Thalia raised the book. "Who wants to read?"

"I will," Lou said, and Thalia tossed her the book.

**Annabeth I**

"Oh so cool!" Connor said.

"We get to read this in Annabeth's point of view," Travis said. Katie smacked the both of them. "Ow!" They groaned. Lou just decided to read on.

**UNTIL SHE MET THE EXPLODING STATUE,**

"Exploding statue?" Butch asked. The other campers shrugged. Malcolm was working into overdrive, wondering who that could be.

"We should get an exploding statue," Travis said.

"What would you do with it?" Katie asked.

"To terrorize the little kid campers," Connor said in a 'duh' voice. "Duh!"

Nyssa hit Connor. "You will not terrorize the little campers," She scolded.

"That hurt," Connor grumbled, as he rubbed his head.

"Good," Nyssa nodded. Katie hit Travis. "Ow!" He complained. "What was that for?"

Katie shrugged. "I didn't get to do it when you mentioned the idea," She said.

"Write that down," Travis whispered to Connor. He nodded, and took out a notebook. Connor wrote something in it, then put it away.

**Annabeth thought she was prepared for anything.**

**She'd paced the deck of their flying warship, the Argo II,**

Hephaestus and his daughter, Nyssa, nodded. "It is a good ship," She said.

**checking and double-checking the ballistae to make sure they were locked down. She confirmed that the white "We come in peace" flag was flying from the mast.**

"Now," Connor started.

"Why would they want that?" Travis ended.

Malcolm shook her head, thinking, _How could Hermes have such stupid kids? _"I am sure it will explain," Malcolm...well, _explained_.

**She reviewed the plan with the rest of the crew—and the backup plan, and the backup plan for the backup plan.**

"Wow," Jared said. "That's a lot of plans."

"Which, of course," Will said, "makes her a daughter of Athena.

Malcolm nodded. "A lot of plans is better than nothing."

**Most important, she pulled aside their war-crazed chaperone, Coach Gleeson Hedge, and encouraged him to take the morning off in his cabin and watch reruns of mixed martial arts championships. The last thing they needed as they flew a magical Greek trireme into a potentially hostile Roman camp was a middle-aged satyr in gym clothes waving a club and yelling "Die!"**

"Why would you do that?" Travis asked. "Gleeson is awesome!"

Grover just shook his head. "Oh, Gleeson," He muttered.

**Everything seemed to be in order. Even that mysterious chill**

"Mysterious chill?" Grover, Malcolm, and Thalia all muttered/asked together. But they were too in-thought to see the glances they were getting.

**she'd been feeling since the ship launched had dissipated, at least for now.**

**The warship descended through the clouds, but Annabeth couldn't stop second-guessing herself. What if this was a bad idea? What if the Romans panicked and attacked them on sight?**

**The Argo II definitely did not look friendly.**

All the campers, who all saw the ship, nodded in agreement.

**Two hundred feet long, with a bronze-plated hull, mounted repeating crossbows fore and aft, a flaming metal dragon for a figurehead, and two rotating ballistae amidships that could fire explosive bolts powerful enough to blast through concrete…well, it wasn't the most appropriate ride for a meet-and-greet with the neighbors.**

"It really is a wonderful piece of machinery," Nyssa said.

"You guys did a good job," Will said, and kissed Nyssa's cheek. **(A/N: Remember they are still together!)**

**Annabeth had tried to give the Romans a heads-up. She'd asked Leo to send one of his special inventions—a holographic scroll—**

"Ah, that is so cool!" Travis and Connor said simultaneously.

They looked over at Nyssa. "Hey, Nyssa, can you-" Travis started but was interrupted by Nyssa.

"No."

"But you didn't know what I was going to say," He pouted which made all the campers laugh.

Nyssa nodded, and said, "Yes, yes I do." Travis just pouted again.

**to alert their friends inside the camp. Hopefully the message had gotten through. Leo had wanted to paint a giant message on the bottom of the hull—WASSUP? with a smiley face—**

"Aww, Annabeth," The Stolls whined, along with Nick Black, son of Nike, and Jared Sraze, so of Hebe. They got hit by the others.

**—but Annabeth vetoed the idea. She wasn't sure the Romans had a sense of humor.**

"Why did you do that, Annabeth?" I'll give you three guess as to who said that.

"You're both idiots!" Clariss yelled and threw two pillows at the Stolls, which knocked them down. Everyone started to laugh as Travis and Connor stared at each other, both thinking, _How did that pillow knock me down?_

**Too late to turn back now.**

**The clouds broke around their hull, revealing the gold-and-green carpet of the Oakland Hills below them. Annabeth gripped one of the bronze shields that lined the starboard rail.**

**Her three crewmates took their places.**

**On the stern quarterdeck, Leo rushed around like a madman, checking his gauges and wrestling levers. Most helmsmen would've been satisfied with a pilot's wheel or a tiller. Leo had also installed a keyboard, monitor, aviation controls from a Learjet, a dubstep soundboard, and motion-control **  
**sensors from a Nintendo Wii.**

"That is awesome!" All the guys yelled, with Nyssa nodding along.

**He could turn the ship by pulling on the throttle, fire weapons by sampling an album, or raise sails by shaking his Wii controllers really fast. Even by demigod standards, Leo was seriously ADHD.**

"Yes, but that's what helps us in battle," Malcolm said.

"Yeah," Nyssa said, "but he has more ADHD than any of us. At least you don't have to live with him." Everyone was laughing at her luck, while her boyfriend, Will took her hand in his. **  
**

**Piper**

Drew just rolled her eyes and scowled at the mention of Piper.

**paced back and forth between the mainmast and the ballistae, practicing her lines.**

**"Lower your weapons," she murmured. "We just want to talk."**

**Her charmspeak was so powerful, the words flowed over Annabeth, filling her with the desire to **  
**drop her dagger and have a nice long chat.**

Chris said, "Her charmspeak is very powerful." The campers who has seen her use her charmspeak, nodded in agreement.

**For a child of Aphrodite, Piper tried hard to play down her beauty.**

Drew sneered. "Which is stupid. Children of Aphrodite must express themselves with beauty." Thalia scowled at Drew. She hated Drew more than she hated the Stolls, and that's saying something.

**Today she was dressed in tattered jeans, worn-out sneakers, and a white tank top with pink Hello Kitty designs. (Maybe as a joke, though Annabeth could never be sure with Piper.) Her choppy brown hair was braided down the right side with an eagle's feather.**

"I like the eagle feather touch," Katie said, some of the others nodded. Travis was thinking, _Maybe I could get her an eagle feather._

**Then there was Piper's boyfriend—Jason.**

Thalia smiled at the mention of her brother.

**He stood at the bow on the raised crossbow platform, where the Romans could easily spot him. His knuckles were white on the hilt of his golden sword. Otherwise he looked calm for a guy who was making himself a target. Over his jeans and orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, he'd donned a toga and a purple cloak—symbols of his old rank as praetor. With his wind-ruffled blond hair and his icy blue eyes, he looked ruggedly handsome**

"Now, now, Annabeth," Connor chided.

"You can't say that," Travis scolded. Then they realized that she wasn't there, then looked down. The others looked down, too.

**and in control—just like a son of Jupiter should.**

**He'd grown up at Camp Jupiter, so hopefully his familiar face would make the Romans hesitant to blow the ship out of the sky.**

**Annabeth tried to hide it, but she still didn't completely trust the guy.**

Thalia gasped and had a look of confusion on her face, as did most of the others.

**He acted too perfect—always following the rules, always doing the honorable thing. He even _looked_ too perfect. In the back of her mind, she had a nagging thought: What if this is a trick and he betrays us? What if we sail into Camp Jupiter, and he says, _Hey, Romans! Check out these prisoners and this cool ship I brought you!_**

Thalia gasped again. "I can't believe you would think like this, Annabeth!" She turned to her right, where no one was sitting, and sighed. Annabeth wasn't there.

**Annabeth doubted that would happen.**

Thalia nodded with that sentence.

**Still, she couldn't look at him without getting a bitter taste in her mouth.**

Then frowned.

**He'd been part of Hera's forced "exchange program" to introduce the two camps. Her Most Annoying Majesty, Queen of Olympus,**

Everyone laughed at that. It was true and they all knew it. After a few minutes, Lou continued.

**had convinced the other gods that their two sets of children—Roman and Greek—had to combine forces to save the world from the evil goddess Gaea, who was awakening from the earth, and her horrible children the giants.**

**Without warning, Hera had plucked up Percy Jackson,**

All of Percy's friends were lost in MemoryLand, wondering if they would ever see him again.

**Annabeth's boyfriend, wiped his memory, and sent him to the Roman camp. In exchange, the Greeks had gotten Jason. None of that was Jason's fault; but every time Annabeth saw him, she remembered how much she missed Percy.**

Thalia nodded in realization, about how Annabeth didn't trust him and that.

**Percy…who was somewhere below them right now.**

**_Oh, gods._**** Panic welled up inside her. She forced it down. She couldn't afford to get overwhelmed.**

**_I'm a child of Athena, _****she told herself. _I have to stick to my plan and not get distracted._**

**She felt it again—that familiar shiver, as if a psychotic snowman**

"Psychotic snowman," Some guys muttered and laughed silently.

**had crept up behind her and was breathing down her neck. She turned, but no one was there.**

"I wonder what would happen if there was a psychotic snowman there," Nick wondered. Travis, Connor, Jared, and Brett nodded in agreement.

**Must be her nerves.**

Everyone nodded in agreement.

**Even in a world of gods and monsters, Annabeth couldn't believe a new warship would be haunted. The Argo II was well protected. The Celestial bronze shields along the rail were enchanted to ward off monsters,**

"Of course," Nyssa said. "We would never build that ship if it allowed monsters on it."

**and their onboard satyr, Coach Hedge, would have sniffed out any intruders.**

Grover nodded, while thinking, _He is so war-crazed. Oh, Gleeson._

**Annabeth wished she could pray to her mother for guidance, but that wasn't possible now.**

Malcolm was wondering why.

**Not after last month, when she'd had that horrible encounter with her mom and gotten the worst present **  
**of her life.…**

**The cold pressed closer. She thought she heard a faint voice in the wind, laughing.**

Everyone shivered, while playing with their minds, that someone was laughing. _Gaea,_ they thought.

**Every muscle in her body tensed. Something was about to go terribly wrong.**

**She almost ordered Leo to reverse course. Then, in the valley below, horns sounded. The Romans **  
**had spotted them.**

**Annabeth thought she knew what to expect. Jason had described Camp Jupiter to her in great detail. Still, she had trouble believing her eyes. Ringed by the Oakland Hills, the valley was at least twice the size of Camp Half-Blood. A small river snaked around one side and curled toward the center **  
**like a capital letter G, emptying into a sparkling blue lake.**

**Directly below the ship, nestled at the edge of the lake, the city of New Rome gleamed in the sunlight. She recognized landmarks Jason had told her about—the hippodrome, the coliseum, the temples and parks, the neighborhood of Seven Hills with its winding streets, colorful villas, and flowering gardens.**

Katie was thinking about how wonderful those gardens are.

**She saw evidence of the Romans' recent battle with an army of monsters.**

**The dome was cracked open on a building she guessed was the Senate House. The forum's broad plaza was pitted with craters. Some fountains and statues were in ruins.**

**Dozens of kids in togas were streaming out of the Senate House to get a better view of the _Argo II_. More Romans emerged from the shops and cafés, gawking and pointing as the ship descended.**

**About half a mile to the west, where the horns were blowing, a Roman fort stood on a hill. It looked just like the illustrations Annabeth had seen in military history books—with a defensive trench lined with spikes,**

Clarisse nodded her head. "Romans like spikes," She said.

"How do you know that?" Will asked.

"Did a report of Romans, when I was still in school," Was his answer.

**high walls, and watchtowers armed with scorpion ballistae. Inside, perfect rows of white barracks lined the main road—the Via Principalis.**

**A column of demigods emerged from the gates, their armor and spears glinting as they hurried toward the city. In the midst of their ranks was an actual war elephant.**

"We should get a war elephant," Connor said.

"For Capture-the-Flag," Travis said.

"We'll tell Chiron when we get back," Connor said.

Travis nodded. "Write that down, too."

Connor nodded, took out his notebook, wrote something in it, and put it away, paying attention to the book.

**Annabeth wanted to land the Argo II before those troops arrived, but the ground was still several hundred feet below. She scanned the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of Percy.**

"How can she?" Travis asked.

"There are a bunch of Romans in her way," Connor said, making a few chuckle.

**Then something behind her went BOOM!**

Lou yelled at that part, making everyone jump. SHe chuckled softly, as everyone stared at her, holding their hearts.

**The explosion almost knocked her overboard. She whirled and found herself eye to eye with an angry **  
**statue.**

**"Unacceptable!" he shrieked.**

**Apparently he had exploded into existence, right there on the deck. Sulfurous yellow smoke rolled off his shoulders. Cinders popped around his curly hair. From the waist down, he was nothing but a square marble pedestal. From the waist up, he was a muscular human figure in a carved toga.**

"Terminus," Malcolm muttered.

**"I will _not_ have weapons inside the Pomerian Line!" he announced in a fussy teacher voice. "I ****_certainly_ will not have Greeks!"**

"What's wrong with Greeks?" Thalia asked, getting angry. Everyone was angry too, but stayed quiet as Lou continued to read.

**Jason shot Annabeth a look that said, _I've got this._**

**"Terminus," he said. "It's me. Jason Grace."**

**"Oh, I remember _you_, Jason!" Terminus grumbled. "I thought you had better sense than to consort with the enemies of Rome!"**

"We can't be enemies," Lou said. "If we want to stop Gaea." The campers nodded along with her.

**"But they're not enemies—"**

**"That's right," Piper jumped in."We just want to talk. If we could—"**

**"Ha!" snapped the statue. "Don't try that charmspeak on _me_, young lady. And put down that dagger before I slap it out of your hands!"**

"How will he do that?" The Stolls asked.

"He has no hands," Jared said, highly confused.

**Piper glanced at her bronze dagger, which she'd apparently forgotten she was holding. "Um…okay. But how would you slap it? You don't have any arms."**

"He's not going to like that," Malcolm said, he got some confused looks, so he explained, "Terminus likes to think he _has_ arms, when he doesn't, so he doesn't like it when people says he doesn't." They all nodded.

His girlfriend asked jokingly, "How do you know that, Mal?" She smirked at him. Malcolm blushed, and muttered, 'read it' while the campers laughed.

**"Impertinence!" There was a sharp _POP_ and a flash of yellow. Piper yelped and dropped the dagger, which was now smoking and sparking.**

"Whoa," The Stolls said. "Did he use magic?"

Lou smirked. She put her hand behind her back, and started to use magic on the Stolls. She brought her hand back, pointed at them, then used the zipping sign with her fingers pretending to zip her lips shut. The exact same thing happened to Travis and Connor, only it was a real zipper, so they couldn't talk. All the campers laughed at them, while they tried to get the zippers off.

Lou said, smiling, "Now that, is magic, Stolls." That only sent everyone off into laughter again.

**"Lucky for you I've just been through a battle," Terminus announced. "If I were at full strength, I would've blasted this flying monstrosity out of the sky already!"**

"He's not going to like that," Nyssa said.

**"Hold up." Leo stepped forward, wagging his Wii controller. "Did you just call my ship a monstrosity? I _know_ you didn't do that."**

"See?"

"No one doubted you, Nyssa."

"Shut up, Will!" Will had a look of fear across his face.

**The idea that Leo might attack the statue with his gaming device was enough to snap Annabeth out of her shock.**

Everyone laughed at that, while Nyssa was shaking her head, but still laughing, at Leo's stupidity.

**"Let's all calm down." She raised her hands to show she had no weapons. "I take it you're Terminus, the god of boundaries. Jason told me you protect the city of New Rome, right? I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of—"**

**"Oh, I know who _you_ are!" The statue glared at her with its blank white eyes. "A child of _Athena_, Minerva's Greek form.**

"What's wrong with Athena?" Malcolm asked, getting angry.

**Scandalous!**

"Scandalous!" Malcolm shouted. Kylee was trying to calm Malcolm down as Lou continued to read.

**You Greeks have no sense of decency. We Romans know the proper place for _that_ goddess."**

"What?!" Malcolm yelled. Kylee was still trying to get him to calm down, it wasn't working so well. Nobody, not that nobody!, talks about his mother like that.

**Annabeth clenched her jaw. This statue wasn't making it easy to be diplomatic. "What exactly do you mean, _that_ goddess? And what's so scandalous about—"**

**"Right!" Jason interrupted. "Anyway, Terminus, we're here on a mission of peace. We'd love permission to land so we can—"**

**"Impossible!" the god squeaked. "Lay down your weapons and surrender! Leave my city immediately!"**

"Which is it?" Jared asked.

"Surrender or leave?" Butch asked.

**"Which is it?" Leo asked. "Surrender, or leave?"**

Jared grinned and said, "Cool! I think like Leo!" While Butch had a look of horror on his face, and yelled, "No! I think like Leo!" Everyone laughed at their reactions.

**"Both!" Terminus said. "Surrender, then leave. I am slapping your face for asking such a stupid question, you ridiculous boy! Do you feel that?"**

**"Wow." Leo studied Terminus with professional interest.**

"He would," Nyssa sighed, remembering her half brother.

**"You're wound up pretty tight. You got any gears in there that need loosening? I could take a look."**

**He exchanged the Wii controller for a screwdriver from his magic tool belt and tapped the statue's **  
**pedestal.**

**"Stop that!" Terminus insisted. Another small explosion made Leo drop his screwdriver. "Weapons are _not_ allowed on Roman soil inside the Pomerian Line."**

"The what?" Some asked.

**"The what?" Piper asked.**

**"City limits," Jason translated. **

"Ohh," the same people said.

**"And this entire ship is a weapon!" Terminus said. "You _cannot_ land!"**

**Down in the valley, the legion reinforcements were halfway to the city. The crowd in the forum was over a hundred strong now. Annabeth scanned the faces and…oh, gods. She saw him.**

**He was walking toward the ship with his arms around two other kids like they were best buddies—**

"What?" Thalia and Grover asked together. How could Percy think of them as his best buddies? That was them, while Annabeth was the girlfriend.

**a stout boy with a black buzz cut, and a girl wearing a Roman cavalry helmet. Percy looked so at ease, so happy. He wore a purple cape just like Jason's—the mark of a praetor.**

**Annabeth's heart did a gymnastics routine.**

**"Leo, stop the ship," she ordered.**

"Ah," Malcolm said, getting what his half-sister was planning. "I understand."

"Well, I don't!" Travis and Connor whined.

"Too bad!" Malcolm said.

**"What?"**

**"You heard me. Keep us right where we are."Leo pulled out his controller and yanked it upward. All ninety oars froze in place. The ship stopped sinking.**

**"Terminus," Annabeth said, "there's no rule against hovering _over_ New Rome, is there?"**

"Ohhh," Everyone, who didn't get it *cough* the Stolls *cough*, said.

**The statue frowned. "Well, no…"**

**"We can keep the ship aloft," Annabeth said. "We'll use a rope ladder to reach the forum. That way, the ship won't be on Roman soil. Not technically."**

**The statue seemed to ponder this. Annabeth wondered if he was scratching his chin with imaginary hands.**

Everyone laughed at the mental image.

**"I like technicalities," he admitted. "Still…"**

**"All our weapons will stay aboard the ship," Annabeth promised. "I assume the Romans—even those reinforcements marching toward us—will also have to honor your rules inside the Pomerian Line if you tell them to?"**

**"Of course!" Terminus said. "Do I look like I tolerate rule breakers?"**

"Yes," Jared said, just to be funny. It worked, people laughed, but stopped when Jared got smacked by Katie. Travis was fuming silently. He was the only one Katie could salp. He didn't like it when he got hit by Kate, but at least she was acknowledging him. That's all Travis wants from her, and to be her boyfriend. _But Katie would never agree to that,_ Travis thought bitterly.

**"Uh, Annabeth…" Leo said. "You sure this is a good idea?"**

**She closed her fists to keep them from shaking. That cold feeling was still there. It floated just behind her, and now that Terminus was no longer shouting and causing explosions, she thought she could hear the presence laughing, as if it was delighted by the bad choices she was making.**

**But Percy was down there…he was so close. She _had_ to reach him.**

**"It'll be fine," she said. "No one will be armed. We can talk in peace. Terminus will make sure each side obeys the rules." She looked at the marble statue. "Do we have an agreement?"**

**Terminus sniffed. "I suppose. For now. You may climb down your ladder to New Rome, daughter of Athena. _Please _try not to destroy my town." **

"That's it." Lou closed the book. "Who want's to read next?"

"I will," Katie said. Lou passed her the book. She opened it to the right page, **"Annabeth II..."**

* * *

**How was that, my little cupcakes? Good? Bad? Really amazing? Expecting reviews for that. Anyway, I hoped you liked it. And Happy Mother's Day, cupcakes! Review!**

**Love you all,**

**T**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, my cupcakes. I was sick today so I have been working on this chapter all day long. It took me longer 'cause I do not feel well. Anyway, I hope you liked the last chapter, and I would also like some reviews about who you would want to come in. I would put up a poll but I'm too lazy and tired, so yeah. So on with the story since my announcements are over.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Katie opened the book to read, but then realized something. She closed the book and looked up. "Hey, where are the Stolls and Lou?" She asked. They were just here."

They looked around and realized that the Stolls and Lou weren't here.

"That's odd," Will said, frowning slightly. "They were here just a minute ago."

Then, someone laughed. They all turned to see Lou walking out of a little house with a birdcage in hand.

"Where did you go?" Butch asked.

"And when did that house get here?" Grover asked.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Thalia said. They all shook there heads, except Lou. "It's been her since I have. I thought you all knew. It's for when you need food, or need to use the restroom." Everyone nodded.

"Now," Chris started, "where are my brothers?"

Lou smirked. "I turned them into guinea pigs," She said simply.

Everyone burst out laughing, while Chris stared at her. "Are you serious?" He asked. Lou nodded, and, soon, he was rolling on the ground laughing.

"How did you do that?" Clarisse asked, while trying to get her laughing under control.

"They asked if I could undo their lips," She said. "I said okay, but there was a catch. I turned them into guinea pigs."

She took off the sheet from the cage. Reviling two guinea pigs that looked like twins. "That's Connor," she pointed to the one on the side. "and that's Travis." She pointed to the one that was sleeping in the middle.

Dre wrinkled her nose. "Ugh, guinea pigs. They are not going to like it when they turn back into themselves."

"So when do they turn back?" Malcolm asked. "I want to know, so I can cherish this moment of them not being annoying."

"After the chapter," Lou answered.

"You can't make it any longer?" Kylee whined.

Lou shook her head. "It drains my energy." They all nodded.

"I have a question," Jared said. "How did you disappear after you gave Katie the book?"

"I used magic, Jared," Lou answered with a sigh.

"How did you use magic?" Brett asked. Kylee hit him on the back of the head. "Ow!"

"My mother is Hecate," Lou said. Brett was still confused. "The goddess of magic."

"Ohhh," He said. "Carry on." Everyone rolled their eyes at him, as Katie continued to read.

**Annabeth II**

**A SEA OF HASTILY ASSEMBLED demigods parted for Annabeth as she walked through the forum. Some looked tense, some nervous. Some were bandaged from their recent battle with the giants, but no one was armed. No one attacked.**

"Well, duh!" Jared said. "They have no weapons."

**Entire families had gathered to see the newcomers.**

Everyone was confused about how entire families were there.

**Annabeth saw couples with babies, toddlers clinging to their parents' legs, even some elderly folks in a combination of Roman robes and modern clothes. Were all of them demigods?**

**Annabeth suspected so, though she'd never seen a place like this. At Camp Half-Blood, most demigods were teens. If they survived long enough to graduate from high school, they either stayed on as counselors or left to start lives as best they could in the mortal world.**

The campers all nodded at that.

**Here, it was an entire multigenerational community.**

All the campers were amazed. They never knew a community like that was even out there. They longed for a place like that.

**At the far end of the crowd, Annabeth spotted Tyson the Cyclops**

"And his brother," Grover said.

"Whoa," Brett said, staring in awe at Grover. "Tyson is Percy's brother?"

Percy nodded. "That's what I just said."

Brett nodded. "Right, but I didn't know that."

Kylee stared at him. "How could you not? They said that Tyson is the lost camper's brother!"

"Oh, right," Brett then stared at Kylee, a look of confusion on his face. "Who was the missing camper?"

She face-palmed and leaned her head on Malcolm's shoulder, giving up on Brett.

"Dude!" Chris exclaimed. "Percy's the missing camper!"

"Ooohhhh," Brett said, then smiled. "That clears it up!" Katie continued to read before something else happens.

**and Percy's hellhound, Mrs. O'Leary—**

"I was wondering why a hellhound was in the arena," Jared said. "I didn't really know. Everyone I asked, just shook their head, looking sad, and walked away."

"Well," Thalia started, "she's Percy's."

"How did he get her?" Nick asked.

"I inherited her from her previous owner," Grover said

"Who was her owner?" Kylee asked.

"Dedalus," Clarisse said with distaste. Chris grabbed her hand and squeezed it, telling her it was alright. Then newer campers stared at her in awe.

"It's true," Grover said. "She really likes hotdogs."

Nyssa nodded. "She does."

Will was confused. "How did you know that, Nyssa?" He asked.

Nyssa sighed. "Did you see her attack the hotdog cart during the war?" She asked. Will shook his head. "But I did, so I would know." Will nodded. Katie decided to read on before Jared, Nick, and/or Brett could ask anything stupid.

**who had been the first scouting party from Camp Half-Blood to reach Camp Jupiter. They looked to be in good spirits. Tyson waved and grinned. He was wearing an SPQR banner like a giant bib.**

"Awww," The girls cooed, except Clarisse.

**Some part of Annabeth's mind registered how beautiful the city was—the smells from the bakeries, the gurgling fountains, the flowers blooming in the gardens. And the architecture…gods, the architecture—gilded marble columns, dazzling mosaics, monumental arches, and terraced villas.**

"That sounds awesome," Malcolm breathed. Kylee chuckled lightly at how much Malcolm loves architecture.

**In front of her, the demigods made way for a girl in full Roman armor and a purple cape. Dark hair tumbled across her shoulders. Her eyes were as black as obsidian.**

**_Reyna._**

"How did she know that?" Jared asked. The others shrugged, they didn't know either.

**Jason had described her well.**

"Ohhh," Everyone said.

**Even without that, Annabeth would have singled her out as the leader. Medals decorated her armor. She carried herself with such confidence the other demigods backed away and averted their gaze.**

**Annabeth recognized something else in her face, too—in the hard set of her mouth and the deliberate way she raised her chin like she was ready to accept any challenge. Reyna was forcing a look of courage, while holding back a mixture of hopefulness and worry and fear that she couldn't show in public.**

Thalia sighed, and said, "She's going to compare herself to Reyna." Grover nodded in agreement.

**Annabeth knew that expression. She saw it every time she looked in a mirror.**

"See?"

"No one disagreed with you, Thals."

"Hopefully you want to keep that tongue, Chris." Chris shrunk behind Clarisse after that threat.

**The two girls considered each other. Annabeth's friends fanned out on either side. The Romans murmured Jason's name, staring at him in awe.**

"I wonder why," Nick's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

**Percy smiled at her—that sarcastic, troublemaker smile that had annoyed her for years but eventually had become endearing. His sea-green eyes were as gorgeous as she remembered. His dark hair was swept to one side, like he'd just come from a walk on the beach.**

"His hair always looks like that," Nyssa said.

"How do you know that, Nyssa?" Will asked, jealousy seeping into his words.

Nyssa rolled her eyes. "Have you seen Percy before, Will?" Nyssa said. "And besides, he helps me with some of the automatons Hephaestus cabin makes to go underwater."

Will cooled down. "Right," He said. "I knew that." Nyssa just chuckled and leaned into him.

**He looked even better than he had six months ago—tanner and taller, leaner and more muscular.**

**Annabeth was too stunned to move.**

**She felt that if she got any closer to him, all the molecules in her body might combust. She'd secretly had a crush on him since they were twelve years old.**

Grover and Thalia jumped up at the same time and yelled, "I knew it!"

"Now," Thalia said, "all we need to do is ask Percy if he had the same feelings for her at twelve."

Grover nodded. "If he was here," He pointed out. Thalia nodded sadly and looked down, everyone-sans the new ones, Jared, Brett, Kylee, Nick, Lou, and Butch-followed suite.

**Last summer, she'd fallen for him hard. They'd been a happy couple for four months—and then he'd disappeared.**

**During their separation, something had happened to Annabeth's feelings. They'd grown painfully intense—like she'd been forced to withdraw from a life-saving medication. Now she wasn't sure which was more excruciating—living with that horrible absence, or being with him again.**

**The praetor Reyna straightened. With apparent reluctance, she turned toward Jason.**

**"Jason Grace, my former colleague…" She spoke the word ****_colleague_**** like it was a dangerous thing. "I welcome you home. And these, your friends—"**

**Annabeth didn't mean to, but she surged forward. Percy rushed toward her at the same time.**

**The crowd tensed. Some reached for swords that weren't there.**

"I wonder why," Will said, voice full of sarcasm.

Brett, not getting the sarcasm in his voice, asked, "Why wouldn't you get it? Terminus said no weapons!"

Will looked flabbergasted. **(love that word!)** And said. "It was sarcasm, you dolt!" The girls all threw pillows at Brett.

**Percy threw his arms around her. They kissed,**

"I knew they would!" Thalia exclaimed.

"I bet she's going to hurt him," Clarisse said. "Once they break apart."

Thalia thought for a moment, then nodded. "Totally," She agreed.

**and for a moment nothing else mattered. An asteroid could have hit the planet and wiped out all life, and Annabeth wouldn't have cared.**

"There would be no life," Nick said.

**Percy smelled of ocean air. His lips were salty.**

Brett and Jared screamed. "What?!" Everyone asked.

They looked at each other, then, at the same time, yelled, "TMI!"

**_Seaweed Brain,_**** she thought giddily.**

**Percy pulled away and studied her face. "Gods, I never thought—"**

**Annabeth grabbed his wrist and flipped him over her shoulder. He slammed into the stone pavement.**

"I had a feeling she would do that," Clarisse said, Thalia nodded in agreement.

"You both said that she would hurt him," Grover pointed out.

"And?" Clarisse asked.

"Why did you say you had a feeling she would do that?" Grover asked.

"I didn't know what kind of hurt," Clarisse admitted. "But I kinda had a feeling she would judo-flip him."

"That sounds like Annabeth," Malcolm said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

**Romans cried out. Some surged forward, but Reyna shouted, "Hold! Stand down!"**

"I wonder why she did that," Will asked.

"Probably because they couldn't do anything," Lou said.

"They had no weapons," Nyssa explained to the confused. *cough* Brett, Jared, and Nick. *cough*

"Ohhh," They said.

**Annabeth put her knee on Percy's chest. She pushed her forearm against his throat. She didn't care what the Romans thought. A white-hot lump of anger expanded in her chest—a tumor of worry and bitterness that she'd been carrying around since last autumn.**

**"If you ever leave me again," she said, her eyes stinging, "I swear to all the gods—"**

**Percy had the nerve to laugh.**

"Why did he laugh?" Malcolm asked. "My sister can be really terrifying at times." The guys nodded in agreement.

"It was probably because it was _so_ Annabeth of her," Grover said. They all nodded.

**Suddenly the lump of heated emotions melted inside Annabeth.**

**"Consider me warned," Percy said. "I missed you, too."**

**Annabeth rose and helped him to his feet. She wanted to kiss him again ****_so_**** badly, but she managed to restrain herself.**

**Jason cleared his throat. "So, yeah.…It's good to be back."**

**He introduced Reyna to Piper, who looked a little miffed that she hadn't gotten to say the lines she'd been practicing, then to Leo, who grinned and flashed a peace sign.**

Nyssa sighed. "Of course he would do that." Will chuckled and put an arm around her shoulders.

**"And this is Annabeth," Jason said. "Uh, normally she doesn't judo-flip people."**

"No, of course not," Malcolm said. "She only does that to her boyfriend, and guys who like to flirt with her." Malcolm gave a pointed look to Jared and Brett.

**Reyna's eyes sparkled. "You sure you're not a Roman, Annabeth? Or an Amazon?"**

Some, *cough* Thalia and Grover *cough* looked irritated that that _Roman_ would say Annabeth was a Roman.

**Annabeth didn't know if that was a compliment,**

"It isn't a compliment," Thalia muttered, then went back to listening to Katie read.

**but she held out her hand. "I only attack my boyfriend like that," she promised.**

"I called it!"

"No one doubted you, Mal."

"They could have, Kylee." Kylee rolled her eyes at her boyfriend.

**"Pleased to meet you."**

**Reyna clasped her hand firmly. "It seems we have a lot to discuss. Centurions!"**

**A few of the Roman campers hustled forward—apparently the senior officers. Two kids appeared at Percy's side, the same ones Annabeth had seen him chumming around with earlier. The burly Asian guy with the buzz cut was about fifteen. He was cute in a sort of oversized-cuddly-panda-bear way.**

"I wonder who that is," Chris...well, _wondered._

"Shut up, Chris!"

"Love you too, Clarisse!"

**The girl was younger, maybe thirteen, with amber eyes and chocolate skin and long curly hair. Her cavalry helmet was tucked under her arm.**

"Wow," Brett whistled. "She sounds _hot_!"

**Annabeth could tell from their body language that they felt close to Percy. They stood next to him protectively, like they'd already shared many adventures. She fought down a twinge of jealousy. Was it possible Percy and this girl…no.**

**The chemistry between the three of them wasn't like that. Annabeth had spent her whole life learning to read people. It was a survival skill. If she had to guess, she'd say the big Asian guy was the girl's boyfriend, though she suspected they hadn't been together long.**

"Wow," Chris said. "That's good."

"Look at that, Brett," Kylee said. "She has a boyfriend."

Brett scoffed. "Who?" He mock-asked. "Chubby, panda-man? Yeah, right."

"If he's a child of Ares, he could possibly kill you," Thalia said.

Clarisse was shocked. "I have a panda-man as a half-brother?" She asked. "Now that is just messed up."

Chirs chuckled and put an arm around her.

**There was one thing she didn't understand: what was the girl staring at? She kept frowning in Piper and Leo's direction, like she recognized one of them and the memory was painful.**

**Meanwhile, Reyna was giving orders to her officers. "…tell the legion to stand down. Dakota, alert the spirits in the kitchen. Tell them to prepare a welcome feast. And, Octavian—"**

**"You're letting these intruders into the ****_camp_****?" A tall guy with stringy blond hair elbowed his way forward. "Reyna, the security risks—"**

**"We're not taking them to the camp, Octavian." Reyna flashed him a stern look. "We'll eat here, in the forum."**

**"Oh, ****_much_**** better," Octavian grumbled. He seemed to be the only one who didn't defer to Reyna as his superior, despite the fact that he was scrawny and pale and for some reason had three teddy bears hanging from his belt.**

Everyone laughed at the mental image.

**"You want us to relax in the shadow of their warship."**

"Actually, yes," Nick said. "That's exactly what they want." He got some laughs at that.

**"These are our guests." Reyna clipped off every word. "We will welcome them, and we will talk to them. As augur,**

Everyone laughed, thinking of a scarecrow burning teddy bears. **(can anyone picture that or no? leave a comment if you could;))**

**you should burn an offering to thank the gods for bringing Jason back to us safely."**

**"Good idea," Percy put in. "Go burn your bears, Octavian."**

Everyone was laughing at that. "Nice!" Nick said.

"Man," Jared said, still trying to get over with the giggles. "That was sweet!"

"I bet that made him mad!" Thalia said.

**Reyna looked like she was trying not to smile. "You have my orders. Go."**

**The officers dispersed. Octavian shot Percy a look of absolute loathing. Then he gave Annabeth a suspicious once-over and stalked away.**

**Percy slipped his hand into Annabeth's. "Don't worry about Octavian," he said. "Most of the Romans are good people—like Frank and Hazel here,**

"Hopefully they are," Katie sighed, iterrupting her own reading.

"What do you mean, Katie?" Will asked.

"I mean," Katie started, "if they're Percy's Roman friends, he's going to want them to come to camp and for us to meet them."

Grover nodded. "He probably would," He admitted. "But after the war." All of Percy's friends agreed.

**and Reyna. We'll be fine."**

**Annabeth felt as if someone had draped a cold washcloth across her neck. She heard that whispering laughter again, as if the presence had followed her from the ship.**

**She looked up at the ****_Argo II_****. Its massive bronze hull glittered in the sunlight. Part of her wanted to kidnap Percy right now, climb on board, and get out of here while they still could.**

**She couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong. And there was no way she would ever risk losing Percy again.**

**"We'll be fine," she repeated, trying to believe it.**

**"Excellent," Reyna said. She turned to Jason, and Annabeth thought there was a hungry sort of gleam in her eyes.**

Everyone was wondering what _that_ meant.

**"Let's talk, and we can have a proper reunion."**

Katie closed the book. "That's all," She said.

Then, there was a bright light in the room. Some had a glimmer of hope, as they thought it was going to be Percy or Annabeth, or any of the seven. But, sadly, it was just the Stolls back in their normal selves, and not as guinea pigs.

"Whoa," Connor said. "I was turned into a guinea pig."

Travis hit him in the back of the head. "No duh!" He said. "What gave it away?"

"Whatever, man" Connor turned, and saw everyone with sad expressions. "Hey, what up with the depression."

Katie wiped a fake tear away. "We're sad," She gestured to all the demigods. "Because you aren't guinea pigs anymore." Then, Katie burst into fake tears, making everyone laugh.

"Actually," Thalia said. "Some of us were hoping the light was Percy, or Annabeth, or any of the seven."

A bright light then filled the plane. When it died down, a girl laid in the middle of the grassy plane. She was unconscious, with her blonde hair all over her face. She had cuts, gashes, and bruises. There was a bubble wrap cast around her right ankle. Her orange shirt was covered in slime and monster dust, her jean shorts had slashes in them, and she was barefoot. And a boy laid there, too. He looked just like the blonde, with jet-black hair all over the place. His clothes were ripped, and he had a giant gash on his back. But he didn't have a cast on.

Everyone gasped. "Annabeth!" Thalia cried out.

"Percy!" Grover called.

* * *

**Sorry for the cliffie, guys! But I had to do something. Anyway hoped you liked it, and I would like some reviews of some of the people you want to come in for earlier chapters. And hopefully I would get some more reviews, but if I don't, it doesn't matter.**

**Later, cupcakes**

**T**


	3. Chapter 3

**Soooooooo, how was that last chapter? I'm sorry, I got reviews from it, but I should just come out on it. I need to cancel my story.**

**No jk! I love you all and I would never do that! Well, my last story I just restarted it without the gods and hunters, no biggie. Since I'm in a good mood I'm updating. Anyway, on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Chapter 3. Hope you enjoy it, cupcakes!**

* * *

_**Previously**_

_Everyone gasped. "Annabeth!" Thalia cried out._

_"Percy!" Grover called._

Everyone rushed forward. Some to Annabeth and some to Percy. Some *couch* Clovis *cough* were just snoring away. **(A/N: Sorry I don't use him, what's the point? He's always sleeping.)**

Everyone was close to tears. Soon, Percy stirred and sat up. He looked around with wide eyes. When his eyes landed on Annabeth, he jumped up and ran over to her. *They were on different sides of the plane, sorry didn't mention that.*

"Percy!" Everyone called. Percy ignored them and knelt by Annabeth.

"Annabeth?" He asked, shaking her lightly. "No. C'mon, Annabeth! Wake up."

Thalia came over. "Percy?" She asked. He looked up at her. "What's wrong? Why are you and Annabeth so beat up?"

Percy sighed. "I'll tell you later," He answered. Percy looked over at Will. "Will, I need some ambrosia and nectar!"

He nodded and picked up his pack that was by his chair. Yes, he has a medical pack he takes with him everywhere, get over it. Will ran over to Percy and knelt next to him.

"Here." Will handed him some ambrosia. "This will help." Percy took it gratefully, and nibbled some off. Soon, all his cuts and bruises were healing. Will looked over at Annabeth. He grabbed some nectar and dribbled some in her mouth. Her cuts and gashes started to fade and heal.

Will looked over at Percy and his eye caught onto the gash on his back. "Dude!" Will exclaimed. "What happened to your back?!"

Percy looked shocked for a moment, then shook his head. "I fell on some bricks, nothing serious," He said, shrugging.

"No, man," Will's voice was shaking. "This is serious, and I'm pretty sure bricks don't have poison on them!"

Everyone gasped. Percy was starting to shake and sweat. "I-it's no-nothing, rea-really," He stammered. "I-I'm fine..." Percy slumped forward, out cold.

"Oh, man!" Will said. "Percy, what is wrong with you!"

"No!" Jared wailed, dropping to his knees in a dramatic gesture. Everyone stared at him. "My idol is gone forever!"

Kylee then proceeded to smack Jared on the back of his head. "You idiot!" She hissed. "Just shut up for once in your life!" Jared chose to be smart, and shut up.

Will glanced around until he saw the small house. He willed it **(no pun intended)** to become an infirmary. "C'mon, guys," He said, "we need to get them to the infirmary." Will then proceeded to help Percy up, Nyssa helped with him.

Nick picked Annabeth up bridal style and walked over to Percy. "Sorry, Percy," He said. "Hope you don't mind." Nick walked to the infirmary/house, with Will and Nyssa following, carrying Percy also. Everyone followed after Will and Nyssa.

The inside of the infirmary was just like the one at camp. The same amount of beds, same cabinets full of nectar and ambrosia, and the same curtains separating each bed. The beds were all on one side of the room and the cabinets on the other. There were some doors leading to more rooms, and bathrooms.

Will and Nyssa put Percy in one bed, while Nick put Annabeth in another that was close to Perc. After that, Will shooed everyone out. Everyone walked out and sat in their chairs, waiting forever. (20 minutes)

Will came back out, with Percy and Annabeth behind him.

"Percy! Annabeth!" Everyone screamed.

"Hey, guys," Percy said with a smile.

"Hey," Annabeth smiled at everyone.

After a bunch of hugs and 'I missed you's', everyone sat in their chairs, or in Percy and Annabeth's condition, on the ground with Annabeth in Percy's lap.

"So what are we doing?" Annabeth asked.

"Reading a book," Travis said.

"That's in your point of view," Connor said, grinning with his brother.

Annabeth paled. "Oh, great," She muttered. "Just great."

Percy chuckled. Annabeth turned to face him. "Oh, and why are you laughing?" She asked.

"Because of the way you acted," Was her answer.

"Oh, yeah?" Annabeth said, smirking. "Just wait until it's your point of view." She turned around to face Travis, who was starting to read, while Percy paled, thinking about how hard that would be. Having your personal thoughts read out loud.

"I'll read," Nyssa said. Katie passed her the book, and she opened it to the right page.

**Annabeth III**

**Annabeth II**

**ANNABETH WISHED SHE HAD AN APPETITE, because the Romans knew how to eat.**

"Hey!" The Stolls yelled. "We know how to eat!"

Percy and Annabeth rolled their eyes at them. "Wait until it's described," Percy said.

"I like the way they eat," Annabeth said, agreeing with her book-self.

**Sets of couches and low tables were carted into the forum until it resembled a furniture showroom. Romans lounged in groups of ten or twenty, talking and laughing while wind spirits—****_aurae_****—swirled overhead, bringing an endless assortment of pizzas, sandwiches, chips, cold drinks, and fresh-baked **  
**cookies. Drifting through the crowd were purple ghosts—Lares—in togas and legionnaire armor. Around the edges of the feast, satyrs (no, ****_fauns, _****Annabeth thought) trotted from table to table, panhandling for food and spare change. In the nearby fields, the war elephant frolicked with Mrs. O'Leary, and children played tag around the statues of Terminus that lined the city limits.**

The Stolls gasped. "I want aurae to deliver my food," Travis whined.

"And I want some cookies!" Connor whined.

Katie looked at Lou. "Any way you could change them back into guinea pigs?" She asked.

Lou smiled, but shook her head, and said, "Sorry don't have any more potions for it." The Stolls cheered. "But it doesn't mean I can't change them into something else." Lou smirked, as the Stolls stopped cheering, and started to push each other in front of the other.

Annabeth was confused. "You turned them into guinea pigs?" She asked. Lou nodded, and Annabeth said, "Then why did you change them back?"

"It uses up my energy the more I keep them like an animal," Lou answered. Annabeth nodded in understanding.

She turned to Percy. "Remember that time on C. C.'s island, Perce?" Annabeth asked.

Percy's eyes widened. "You said we wouldn't talk about it again!" He said.

Annabeth shrugged. "Didn't say they couldn't figure it out," She said, smirking at Percy.

Clarisse, connecting the pieces, burst out laughing. Everyone turned and stared at her. She explained, "Prissy was turned into a guinea pig before!" Everyone started laughing, as Percy cursed in Greek and blushed.

"Let's just read," Percy grumbled. Annabeth kissed his cheek, and he lightened up.

**The whole scene was so familiar yet so completely alien that it gave Annabeth vertigo.**

"Same here," Grover said.

Jared looked confused. "What's vertigo?" He asked.

Annabeth answered, though it was very long, "A dizzying sensation of tilting within stable surroundings or of being in tilting or spinning surroundings."

"Oh, okay," Jared said.

Kylee looked at him. "You didn't get that, did you?" She asked. Jared shook his head.

"Dude," Percy said. "Even _I_ followed that, and I'm not that smart."

Thalia mock-gasped, and said, "You followed that?"

Everyone laughed, except Percy, who was pouting, well...he was, until Annabeth gave him a kiss on the cheek.

**All she wanted to do was be with Percy—preferably alone.**

"And what were you going to do when you're both alone?" Travis asked innocently, wiggling his eyebrows.

Annabeth and Percy blushed. But Percy spoke, "That's okay. I wanted to be alone with Annabeth too."

Before anybody could say anything, Nyssa read on.

**She knew she would have to wait. If their quest was going to succeed, they needed these Romans, which meant getting to know them and building some goodwill.**

**Reyna and a few of her officers (including the blond kid Octavian, freshly back from burning a teddy bear for the gods)**

Everyone was laughing, remembering the mental image of a scarecrow burning teddy bears. **(I'm still wondering if any of you reviewers imagined that)**

**sat with Annabeth and her crew. Percy joined them with his two new friends, Frank and Hazel.**

**As a tornado of food platters settled onto the table, Percy leaned over and whispered, "I want to show you around New Rome. Just you and me. The place is incredible."**

"How," Grover started, "is the place amazing?"

Percy shrunk in his seat from all the stares and gazes he was getting. "I just wanted to show Annabeth the architecture," He lied. "You know how much she likes it."

Everyone nodded, accepting that answer.

**Annabeth should've felt thrilled. ****_Just you and me_**** was exactly what she wanted.**

"That's exactly what I wanted, too," Percy muttered, but Annabeth heard him and smiled up at him. Percy returned it.

**Instead, resentment swelled in her throat. How could Percy talk so enthusiastically about this place?**

"Yeah, Percy," Connor said.

"How?" Travis asked. Percy just ignored them and continued listening to the book.

**What about Camp Half-Blood—****_their camp, their _****home?**

Percy was shocked. He turned to Annabeth. "You know I would never replace New Rome with Camp, right?" Percy said.

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah," She said. "It's just, I thought you wanted to leave camp for Camp Jupiter."

Percy shook his head. "I would never do that," He said, and kissed her cheek.

**She tried not to stare at the new marks on Percy's forearm—an SPQR tattoo like Jason's.**

Everyone looked at Percy's forearm, but he quickly covered it, and everyone went back to the book. But they were still wondering how he would allow the Romans to give it to him.

**At Camp Half-Blood, demigods got bead necklaces to commemorate years of training. Here, the Romans burned a tattoo into your flesh, as if to say: ****_You belong to us. Permanently._**

"Yeah," Katie said. "That's kinda creepy."

Percy grinned. "Like Nico," He said

Every laughed.

**She swallowed back some biting comments. "Okay. Sure."**

**"I've been thinking," he said nervously. "I had this idea—"**

"What was the idea, Perce?" Thalia raised an eyebrow, smirking.

Percy blushed. "It'll come up," He mumbled. But on the inside, Percy was hoping that it wouldn't come up, but knowing his luck, it will.

**He stopped as Reyna called a toast to friendship.**

**After introductions all around, the Romans and Annabeth's crew began exchanging stories. Jason explained how he'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood without his memory, and how he'd gone on a quest with Piper and Leo to rescue the goddess Hera (or Juno, take your pick—she was equally annoying in Greek or Roman)**

"I agree," Thalia, Grover and Percy said, glaring at the sky. Thunder rumbled making everyone jump, except Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia.

**from imprisonment at the Wolf House in northern California.**

"I still think they should've left her," Percy grumbled.

"Why didn't they?" Thalia asked.

"Jason needed his memories back," Annabeth answered. She saw Thalia opened her mouth, and quickly added, "If it wasn't for Hera, you would've never saw Jason again."

"If it wasn't for Hera," Thalia hissed, "I wouldn't have had to worry about me thinking he was dead."

Annabeth put her hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay," She said and signaled to Nyssa to keep reading.

**"Impossible!" Octavian broke in. "That's our most sacred place. If the giants had imprisoned a goddess there—"**

**"They would've destroyed her," Piper said. "And blamed it on the Greeks, and started a war between the camps. Now, be quiet and let Jason finish."**

"I really like her charmspeak," Percy said. "Saved us a lot."

Annabeth nodded. "Me too," She added.

**Octavian opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Annabeth really loved Piper's charmspeak. She noticed Reyna looking back and forth between Jason and Piper, her brow creased, as if just beginning to realize the two of them were a couple.**

"I feel sorry for Reyna," Percy said frowning.

"Why?" Jared asked.

"Because we left her with a job that requires two people," Percy said.

Annabeth nodded. "And we destroyed her home when we were thirteen," She said.

"What do you mean?" Clarisse asked. "We were in the Sea of Monsters at that time."

"Her home was in the Sea of Monsters," Percy said.

"C. C.'s island," Annabeth said.

"Where?" Everyone asked.

"You'll see," Percy smirked. Everyone groaned.

**"So," Jason continued, "that's how we found out about the earth goddess Gaea. She's still half asleep, but she's the one freeing the monsters from Tartarus and raising the giants. Porphyrion, the big leader dude we fought at the Wolf House: he said he was retreating to the ancient lands—Greece itself. He plans on awakening Gaea and destroying the gods by…what did he call it? ****_Pulling up their roots._****"**

"What?" Some asked.

Others asked, "What does that mean?" *cough* the Stolls *cough*

"You'll see," Annabeth smirked at them. And everyone groaned.

**Percy nodded thoughtfully. "Gaea's been busy over here, too. We had our own encounter with Queen Dirt Face."**

"Good one!" The Stolls said, and high-fived Percy.

**Percy recounted his side of the story. He talked about waking up at the Wolf House with no memories except for one name—****_Annabeth._**

All the girls cooed, except Clarisse. Annabeth and Percy blushed.

**When she heard that, Annabeth had to try hard not to cry. Percy told them how he'd traveled to Alaska with Frank and Hazel—how they'd defeated the giant Alcyoneus, freed the death god Thanatos, and returned with the lost golden eagle standard of the Roman camp to repel an attack by the giants' army.**

**When Percy had finished, Jason whistled appreciatively. "No wonder they made you praetor."**

"I know, right!" Brett said. Everyone ignored him.

**Octavian snorted. "Which means we now have ****_three_**** praetors! The rules clearly state we can only have two!"**

**"On the bright side," Percy said, "both Jason****_ and_**** I outrank you, Octavian. So we can both tell you to shut up."**

"Awesome!" All the boys, except Percy, said. The Stolls, and Jared fisr bumped Percy.

**Octavian turned as purple as a Roman T-shirt. Jason gave Percy a fist bump.**

**Even Reyna managed a smile, though her eyes were stormy.**

**"We'll have to figure out the extra praetor problem later," she said. "Right now we have more serious issues to deal with."**

**"I'll step aside for Jason," Percy said easily. "It's no biggie."**

"Why did you do that?" Kylee asked.

"'Cause I don't like power," Percy wrinkled his nose. "If I did, the world would be in shambles."

Kylee was wide-eyed now.

**"No ****_biggie_****?" Octavian choked. "The praetorship of Rome is ****_no biggie_****?"**

**Percy ignored him and turned to Jason. "You're Thalia Grace's brother, huh? Wow. You guys look nothing alike."**

"Yeah, I noticed," Thalia said.

"Wait," Jared said. "He's your full brother?"

Thalia nodded. "Yeah, gotta problem with it?" She asked darkly.

Jared shook his head and hid behind Nick.

**"Yeah, I noticed," Jason said. "Anyway, thanks for helping my camp while I was gone. You did an awesome job."**

**"Back at you," Percy said.**

**Annabeth kicked his shin.**

"Yeah, I didn't need that," Percy said.

"Sorry," Annabeth smiled sheepishly and pecked him on the cheek.

**She hated to interrupt a budding bromance, but Reyna was right: they had serious things to discuss. "We should talk about the Great Prophecy. It sounds like the Romans are aware of it too?"**

**Reyna nodded. "We call it the Prophecy of Seven. Octavian, you have it committed to memory?"**

**"Of course," he said. "But, Reyna—"**

**"Recite it, please. In English, not Latin."**

**Octavian sighed.****_"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—"_**

**_"An oath to keep with a final breath,"_**** Annabeth continued. ****_"And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."_**

**Everyone stared at her—except for Leo, who had constructed a pinwheel out of aluminum foil taco wrappers and was sticking it into passing wind spirits. **

"Awesome!" All the guys said, except Percy, he was there.

Nyssa shook her head lightly, with a smiled, and muttered, "Oh, Leo."

**Annabeth wasn't sure why she had blurted out the lines of the prophecy. She'd just felt compelled.**

**The big kid, Frank, sat forward, staring at her in fascination, as if she'd grown a third eye. "Is it true you're a child of Min—I mean, Athena?"**

**"Yes," she said, suddenly feeling defensive. "Why is that such a surprise?**

**Octavian scoffed. "If you're truly a child of the ****_wisdom_**** goddess—"**

**"Enough," Reyna snapped. "Annabeth is what she says. She's here in peace. Besides…" She gave Annabeth a look of grudging respect. "Percy has spoken highly of you."**

Percy blushed, and Annabeth looked down. Everyone was wondering what happened.

**The undertones in Reyna's voice took Annabeth a moment to decipher. Percy looked down, suddenly interested in his cheeseburger.**

**Annabeth's face felt hot. Oh, gods…Reyna had tried to make a move on Percy.**

"She what?!" Thalia screeched.

Percy and Annabeth's heads snapped up at that. "What happened?!" Thalia asked.

"She just needed another praetor?" Percy said, but it came out more of a question.

Thalia glared at Percy, but sat down.

**That explained the tinge of bitterness, maybe even envy, in her words. Percy had turned her down for Annabeth.**

"Of course I would," Percy said. "You're all I need."

Annabeth smiled and kissed him. They broke apart when Travis yelled, "Get a room!"

Percy retorted by yelling, "Get a girlfriend!"

Travis flushed as everyone laughed. He glanced at Katie and saw her laughing too. _Man, I wish she would give me a chance,_ He thought.

**At that moment, Annabeth forgave her ridiculous boyfriend for everything he'd ever done wrong.**

"Oh, my gods! Really?" Percy and Thalia said together. Percy of happiness and Thalia of shock.

Annabeth shook her head. "No I don't," She said.

Percy's smile dropped from his face. "But you just said-"

"Okay," Annabeth interrupted, "I will forgive some things you've done."

"Yes!" Percy kissed her on the cheek. Thalia was still shocked that she forgave Percy for _some_ of the things he's done, not cool.

**She wanted to throw her arms around him, but she commanded herself to stay cool.**

**"Uh, thanks," she told Reyna. "At any rate, some of the prophecy is becoming clear. Foes bearing arms to the Doors of Death…that means Romans and Greeks. We have to combine forces to find those doors."**

**Hazel, the girl with the cavalry helmet and the long curly hair, picked up something next to her plate. It looked like a large ruby;**

"Oh, man," Jared said, "cute _and _rich! I want her so bad."

"She has a boyfriend," Percy said.

"Who, Chinese baby faced-panda man?" Jared said. "Yeah, right, and I'm Darth Vader."

"You are?!" The Stolls exclaimed in surprise.

"No!" Jared yelled. "It was sarcasm."

"Ohh," They said.

"You shouldn't doubt Frank," Percy warned. "He has more power than you could imagine."

"Pfft, yeah, right," Jared scoffed. "I got plenty of power. I'm the son of Hebe!"

"And Hebe can do...?" Percy asked. "What?"

"What?!" Jared said. "You don't know what mom can do?"

"No," Percy admitted.

"She can grant wishes to come young again!" Jared exclaimed. "She _is_ the goddess of youth after all."

Percy was about to say something, but Annabeth beat him to it, "We'll settle this argument later," She said. "We have a book to read."

Both grumbled but dropped it for now."

**but before Annabeth could be sure, Hazel slipped it into the pocket of her denim shirt.**

**"My brother, Nico, went looking for the doors," she said.**

"Wait," Thalia said. "Nico Di' Angelo? He's Hazel's brother?"

Percy and Annabeth nodded. "He knew about the Roman Camp but didn't say anything?" Grover asked.

Percy and Annabeth nodded, again. "He is so _DEAD_!" Thalia yelled.

"Thals," Percy said. "He had to. If he comes then he'll explain, okay?"

Thalia nodded. "Where is he and the others?" Thalia asked.

"On the _Argo II_," Annabeth said. "Why?"

"Where are you two?" She asked.

"Oh, well," Percy said. "We were left behind for a mission the others had to do."

"But we're finding our way to Greece," Annabeth lied, well told have the truth. "It was something the other five, plus Nico, had to do."

"Nothing serious," Percy said. "You don't have to worry about it."

Thalia nodded, accepting the answer. Not really. Her head went into overdrive. **(A/N: I know it's not like her, but just go with it for the sake of my story)** Wondering where they were, and why the seven would leave them. She _knew_ they wouldn't do that.

**"Wait," Annabeth said. "Nico di Angelo? He's your brother?"**

**Hazel nodded as if this were obvious. A dozen more questions crowded into Annabeth's head, but it was already spinning like Leo's pinwheel. She decided to let the matter go. "Okay. You were saying?"**

**"He disappeared." Hazel moistened her lips. "I'm afraid…I'm not sure, but I think something's happened to him."**

**"We'll look for him," Percy promised. "We have to find the Doors of Death anyway. Thanatos told us we'd find both answers in Rome—like, the ****_original_**** Rome. That's on the way to Greece, right?"**

"Yes, Percy," Katie said. "It's on the way to Greece."

"Well, I don't pay attention in Social Studies!" Percy defended.

"You'll need to work on that," Will chuckled.

"Maybe I do," Percy said. "But I won't!"

"What about me teaching you?" Annabeth said.

Percy nodded. "That'll work," He agreed and grinned at Annabeth, who smiled and kissed his cheek.

**"Thanatos told you this?" Annabeth tried to wrap her mind around ****_that_**** idea. "The death god?"**

"Well, believe it," Percy said. "It happened."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I know, Percy, but the idea kinda freaked me out."

**She'd met many gods. She'd even been to the Underworld; but Percy's story about freeing the incarnation of death itself really creeped her out.**

**Percy took a bite of his burger.**

"That was a good burger," Percy admitted. The girls rolled their eyes at him, while the boys were drooling over the sound of food.

**"Now that Death is free, monsters will disintegrate and return to Tartarus again like they used to. But as long as the Doors of Death are open, they'll just keep coming back."**

**Piper twisted the feather in her hair. "Like water leaking through a dam," she suggested.**

**"Yeah." Percy smiled. " We've got a dam hole."**

Percy, Thalia, and Grover all burst out laughing. "Y-you re-remembered!" Thalia got out from her laughter.

Percy nodded, not able to from words.

"I want to buy a dam T-shirt," Grover said. They all laughed again.

"And I want to go to the dam food quart," Thalia said. They all laughed again.

"What?" Everyone asked.

"Inside joke," They all answered.

**"What?" Piper asked.**

**"Nothing," he said. "Inside joke.**

"Don't repeat yourself, Perce," Connor joked. Percy rolled his eyes at him, but smiled. He wouldn't admit it, but he did miss the Stolls.

**The point is we'll have to find the doors and close them before we can head to Greece. It's the only way we'll stand a chance of defeating the giants and making sure they ****_stay_**** defeated."**

**Reyna plucked an apple from a passing fruit tray. She turned it in her fingers, studying the dark red surface. "You propose an expedition to Greece in your warship. You do realize that the ancient lands—and the Mare Nostrum—are dangerous?"**

"Mary who?" Nick asked.

**"Mary who?" Leo asked.**

"No!" Nick exclaimed. "I think like Leo!" Everyone laughed.

"At least it's better than thinking like Prissy," Clarisse said.

"Love you too, Clarisse."

**"Mare Nostrum," Jason explained. "****_Our Sea_****. It's what the Ancient Romans called the Mediterranean."**

**Reyna nodded. "The territory that was once the Roman Empire is not only the birthplace of the gods. It's also the ancestral home of the monsters, Titans and giants…and worse things. As dangerous as travel is for demigods here in America, ****_there_**** it would be ten times worse."**

**"You said Alaska would be bad," Percy reminded her. "We survived that."**

**Reyna shook her head. Her fingernails cut little crescents into the apple as she turned it.**

"Gasp!" Connor said. "Why would she do that?"

Travis nodded. "Connor," Katie said. "You don't say gasp."

"Maybe, maybe not," Connor said mysteriously.

Katie rolled her eyes and hit him on the back of the head.

**"Percy, traveling in the Mediterranean is a different level of danger altogether. It's been off limits to Roman demigods for centuries. No hero in his right mind would go there."**

"Then they're good," Nyssa said. "They're probably all crazy."

**"Then we're good!" Leo grinned over the top of his pinwheel. "Because we're all crazy, right?**

Nyssa screamed. "What?" Everyone asked.

She started to hyperventilate. "I think like Leo!" She cried. Then everyone laughed, while Will calmed her down.

**Besides, the ****_Argo II_**** is a top-of-the-line warship. She'll get us through."**

**"We'll have to hurry," Jason added. "I don't know exactly what the giants are planning, but Gaea is growing more conscious all the time. She's invading dreams, appearing in weird places, summoning more and more powerful monsters. We have to stop the giants before they can wake her up fully."**

**Annabeth shuddered. She'd had her own share of nightmares lately.**

"I wish you told me," Percy whispered.

"I should've," She whispered back. "But it doesn't matter now."

"Do we have to go back?" He asked.

"We probably do," She whispered. "I don't know if I can."

"It's okay," Percy said. "I'll get us through."

Annabeth nodded, and gripped Percy's hand.

**"****_Seven half-bloods must answer the call_****," she said. "It needs to be a mix from both our camps. Jason, Piper, Leo, and me. That's four."**

**"And me," Percy said. "Along with Hazel and Frank. That's seven."**

**"What?" Octavian shot to his feet. "We're just supposed to ****_accept_**** that? Without a vote in the senate?**

"Ugh," Percy groaned. "Senate meetings are _boring!"_

"NO!" The Stolls cried/exclaimed. "NOT BORING!" Everyone laughed at their reaction.

**Without a proper debate? Without—"**

**"Percy!" Tyson the Cyclops bounded toward them with Mrs. O'Leary at his heels. On the hellhound's back sat the skinniest harpy Annabeth had ever seen—a sickly-looking girl with stringy red hair, a sackcloth dress, and red-feathered wings.**

"That's Ella," Percy said.

"Who?" Brett asked. "The chicken-lady?"

"She's not a chicken, Brett," Malcolm said. "She's a harpy."

"Seriously," Kylee said. "The book just said she's a harpy."

"Oh," Brett said. "Didn't catch that."

"You don't catch a lot of things," Katie laughed.

"Yes, I do," Brett playfully glared at her, then laughed along.

Travis was seething. Katie was _his_ girl, no one else's. _What am I thinking,_ Travis thought._ She'll never like me, no matter how much I try._

**Annabeth didn't know where the harpy had come from, but her heart warmed to see Tyson in his tattered flannel and denim with the backward SPQR banner across his chest. She'd had some pretty bad experiences with Cyclopes, but Tyson was a sweetheart. He was also Percy's half brother (long story), which made him almost like family.**

"Man," Percy said. "I miss Tyson."

"But you already saw him," Nick said, confused.

"That was about a week ago," Percy said.

"Oh, okay," Nick put on a fake smile. He was still confused on the inside.

**Tyson stopped by their couch and wrung his meaty hands. His big brown eye was full of concern. "Ella is scared," he said.**

**"N-n-no more boats," the harpy muttered to herself, picking furiously at her feathers. ****_"Titanic, Lusitania, Pax_****…boats are not for harpies."**

"I know the _Titanic_ and _Lusitania_," Malcolm said. "But _Pax_?"

"A boat I used on my quest with Frank and Hazel," Percy answered.

Malcolm nodded.

**Leo squinted. He looked at Hazel, who was seated next to him. "Did that chicken girl just compare ****_my_**** ship to the ****_Titanic_****?"**

**"She's not a chicken." Hazel averted her eyes, as if Leo made her nervous. "Ella's a harpy. She's just a little…high-strung."**

**"Ella is pretty," Tyson said. "And scared. We need to take her away, but she will not go on the ship."**

**"No ships," Ella repeated. She looked straight at Annabeth. "Bad luck. There she is. Wisdom's **  
**daughter walks alone—"**

**"Ella!" Frank stood suddenly. "Maybe it's not the best time—"**

**_"The Mark of Athena burns through Rome,_****" Ella continued, cupping her hands over her ears and raising her voice.****_"Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death. Giants' bane stands _**_**gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail."**_

Everyone was confused and looked at Annabeth, who was looking down. Percy glared at everyone who looked at her. *cough* the Stolls, Jared, Brett, and Nick *cough* They all backed down.

Malcolm was wondering what the Mark of Athena is. _Is it something I should worry about?_ He asked himself. He decided to store in the back of his head for information later on in the book.

**The effect was like someone dropping a flash grenade on the table. Everyone stared at the harpy. **  
**No one spoke. Annabeth's heart was pounding. ****_The Mark of Athena_****…She resisted the urge to check **  
**her pocket, but she could feel the silver coin growing warmer—the cursed gift from her mother. **  
_**Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me.**_

"You should've told me that also," Percy whispered.

"I know, but it doesn't matter now," Annabeth whispered back.

**Around them, the sounds of the feast continued, but muted and distant, as if their little cluster of couches had slipped into a quieter dimension.**

**Percy was the first to recover. He stood and took Tyson's arm.**

**"I know!" he said with feigned enthusiasm. "How about you take Ella to get some fresh air? You and Mrs. O'Leary—"**

**"Hold on." Octavian gripped one of his teddy bears, strangling it with shaking hands. His eyes fixed on Ella. "Whatwas that she said? It sounded like—"**

**"Ella reads a lot," Frank blurted out. "We found her at a library."**

**"Yes!" Hazel said. "Probably just something she read in a book."**

**"Books," Ella muttered helpfully. "Ella likes books."**

"Ella does like books," Percy said. "She reads, like, seven or eight at once."

"Really?" Chris asked.

"Yeah," Percy said. "You should've seen her at the library, reading seven books all at once."

"Awesome," Chris said. Percy nodded.

**Now that she'd said her piece, the harpy seemed more relaxed. She sat cross-legged on Mrs. O'Leary's back, preening her wings.**

**Annabeth gave Percy a curious glance. Obviously, he and Frank and Hazel were hiding something. Just as obviously, Ella had recited a prophecy—a prophecy that concerned her.**

**Percy's expression said, ****_Help._**

"So his normal expression," Thalia joked.

"Hey!" Percy said. "That's not my normal expression."

"Yes, yes it is," Thalia said.

"That hurt, Thals," Percy said. "Right here." He put his hand on the right side of his chest.

"Other side, Perce," Grover said.

Percy looked at his hand then moved it to the left side. He smiled sheepishly at everyone. "Let's just read," He grumbled. Everyone laughed at him.

**"That was a prophecy," Octavian insisted. "It sounded like a prophecy."**

**No one answered.**

**Annabeth wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but she understood that Percy was on the verge of big trouble.**

**She forced a laugh. "Really, Octavian? Maybe harpies are different here, on the Roman side. Ours have just enough intelligence to clean cabins and cook lunches.**

"Better not let them hear you say that," Travis said.

Connor nodded in agreement. "They'll eat you."

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked.

Katie suddenly burst into laughter. She felt everyone's gazes on her, so she explained, "The Stolls got attacked by the harpies at camp, 'cause they said something similar! They got mobbed my harpies."

By the end of the explanation, everyone-sans Stols-was laughing.

**Do yours usually foretell the future? Do you consult them for your auguries?"**

**Her words had the intended effect. The Roman officers laughed nervously. Some sized up Ella, then looked at Octavian and snorted. The idea of a chicken lady issuing prophecies was apparently just as ridiculous to Romans as it was to Greeks.**

**"I, uh…" Octavian dropped his teddy bear."No, but—"**

**"She's just spouting lines from some book," Annabeth said, "like Hazel suggested. Besides, we already have a ****_real_**** prophecy to worry about."**

**She turned to Tyson. "Percy's right. Why don't you take Ella and Mrs. O'Leary and shadow-travel somewhere for a while. Is Ella okay with that?"**

**"'Large dogs are good,'" Ella said. "****_Old Yeller_****, 1957, screenplay by Fred Gipson and William Tunberg."**

**Annabeth wasn't sure how to take that answer, but Percy smiled like the problem was solved.**

"'Cause it was," Percy said cheekily.

"I know, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth smiled at him.

**"Great!" Percy said. "We'll Iris-message you guys when we're done and catch up with you later."**

**The Romans looked at Reyna, waiting for her ruling. Annabeth held her breath.**

**Reyna had an excellent poker face. She studied Ella, but Annabeth couldn't guess what she was thinking.**

**"Fine," the praetor said at last. "Go."**

**"Yay!" Tyson went around the couches and gave everyone a big hug—even Octavian, who didn't look happy about it. Then he climbed on Mrs. O'Leary's back with Ella, and the hellhound bounded out of the forum. They dove straight into a shadow on the Senate House wall and disappeared.**

"Whoa," Nick said. "What was that?"

"Shadow traveling," Percy said. "Only Hades, his kids, and monsters from the Underworld can do it."

"How did you know that?" Thalia asked, shell-shocked.

"Nico told me," Percy grumbled. Everyone laughed at him.

**"Well." Reyna set down her uneaten apple. "Octavian is right about one thing. We must gain the senate's approval before we let any of our legionnaires go on a quest—especially one as dangerous as you're suggesting."**

**"This whole thing smells of treachery," Octavian grumbled. "That trireme is not a ship of peace!"**

**"Come aboard, man," Leo offered. "I'll give you a tour. You can steer the boat, and if you're really good I'll give you a little paper captain's hat to wear." **

Everyone laughed. "Good one!" The Stolls exclaimed. Then made a mental note to high-five Leo when they see him again.

**Octavian's nostrils flared. "How dare you—"**

**"It's a good idea," Reyna said. "Octavian, go with him. See the ship. We'll convene a senate meeting in one hour."**

**"But…" Octavian stopped. Apparently he could tell from Reyna's expression that further arguing would not be good for his health. "Fine."**

**Leo got up. He turned to Annabeth, and his smile changed. It happened so quickly, Annabeth thought she'd imagined it; but just for a moment someone else seemed to be standing in Leo's place, smiling coldly with a cruel light in his eyes. Then Annabeth blinked, and Leo was just regular old Leo again, with his usual impish grin.**

"Oh, gods," Percy said. "You should've told me that too."

"I know!" Annabeth said. "I should've told you all that stuff."

Everyone was wondering about what Annabeth said about Leo.

**"Back soon," he promised. "This is gonna be epic."**

**A horrible chill settled over her. As Leo and Octavian headed for the rope ladder, she thought about calling them back—but how could she explain that? Tell everyone she was going crazy, seeing things and feeling cold?**

**The wind spirits began clearing the plates.**

**"Uh, Reyna," Jason said, "if you don't mind, I'd like to show Piper around before the senate meeting. She's never seen New Rome."**

Everyone groaned. "Doesn't he know he can't do that?" Katie exclaimed.

"I never knew my brother was so _dense_!" Thalia cried out.

"You can't ask that to a girl who has a crush on you," Kylee said.

"Dude," Travis said. "We need to teach him not to do that."

Connor wrote it down on his notepad. "Got it," He said. "We'll do it when he gets back to camp."

**Reyna's expression hardened.**

**Annabeth wondered how Jason could be so dense. Was it possible he really didn't understand how much Reyna liked him? It was obvious enough to Annabeth. Asking to show his new girlfriend around Reyna's city was rubbing salt in a wound.**

"Exactly!" All the girls-sans Annabeth-exclaimed.

**"Of course," Reyna said coldly.**

**Percy took Annabeth's hand. "Yeah, me, too.**

"Percy!" Everyone groaned.

"I'm sorry!" He apologized.

**I'd like to show Annabeth—"**

**"No," Reyna snapped.**

**Percy knit his eyebrows. "Sorry?"**

**"I'd like a few words with Annabeth," Reyna said. "Alone. If you don't mind, my fellow praetor."**

**Her tone made it clear she wasn't really asking permission.**

**The chill spread down Annabeth's back. She wondered what Reyna was up to. Maybe the praetor didn't like the idea of ****_two_**** guys who had rejected her giving their girlfriends tours of her city. Or maybe there was something she wanted to say in private. Either way, Annabeth was reluctant to be alone and unarmed with the Roman leader.**

"Yeah, I was," Annabeth admitted.

"I would be too," Thalia said. The others nodded in agreement.

**"Come, daughter of Athena." Reyna rose from her couch. "Walk with me."**

"That's it." Nyssa closed the book. "Who want's to read?"

"I will," Will said. Nyssa handed her boyfriend the book.

Before he could start, the Stolls started to laugh. "What?" Will asked.

"You said 'I will,'" Connor said.

"It's funny, 'cause you used your name!" Travis said, still laughing. Soon, everyone was laughing, except Will, who was blushing.

"Okay," He said. "We get it! Can I read?" Everyone nodded, still a few giggles from the Stolls.

**Annabeth IV...**

* * *

**So how was that chapter? Man, that was long. I've been working on weekend homework for ever! And I've been working on this chapter all week, unable to finish. I've had a bunch more homework than usual, thank the EOGs for that. *hopefully got the sarcasm* Anyway, hoped you liked it.**

**R&R!**

**T**


	4. AN

**A/N: **

**Hey guys! I'm sorry that you thought this was a chapter! I'm really sorry that I have updated in a while. It's just that I've been having problems at school and at home. Like this new one:**

**My friend, the one that lives in Currituck, and I had a fight today. He keeps asking for me to do things, then criticizes me for trying my best to help him! He is just so infuriating sometimes! And I just totally snapped and sent him this really bad text. A text that tells him what I'm telling you now. But the problem is, my friends and parents can't help me with this. All my friends are being too stubborn and ignoring my texts. My parents don't like me talking to him, so it's kinda hard.**

**And I was supposed to have a good week! It's the last week of school. Friday is officially summer vacation! Tomorrow I have an award ceremony we do every year, then Friday is a half-day. **

**Then the boy who likes me, officially confirmed it today. My friend, Kayla, tried to drag me over to him against my will. And I had to fight to get out of her tight grip. Luckily, my friend Joey helped pull me out of her grip. God, why does life have to be so hard? I mean, yeah, the guy likes me, I should be honored or something, but I'm not! I freak if someone likes me is on my shoulders! I don't do responsibility very well. And I have ****_no_**** idea what I'm doing when I step 10 feet away from him. I freak and stuff. **

**And my-so-called friend keeps bugging me about my love life! And yes, I do have one. I just don't like it. I don't like having lovey-dovey stuff on my shoulders. And another one of my so-called-friends keeps saying that I'm whining about him liking me, and stuff. Okay, maybe I am a little bit, but come on! You can't tell me that you haven't been in this situation before! Well, maybe you haven't if, you know, you're younger that 12. **

**But I shouldn't rant on this stuff. I'm sorry about the A/N, but I promise that I'm going to get this story up by Friday, or sooner if I don't have much drama at my happy school. (Hopefully you go the sarcasm at 'happy school.')**

**Thanks cupcakes! Love you all,**

**Nick (my nickname, if you were confused)**


	5. Original Chapter 4

**Hello my cupcakes! Sorry for the long update. You know the reason, that is, if you read the A/N that I posted Wednesday. But I highly doubt you did. I'll give you the small version if you didn't:**

**I've been having problems with the boy who likes me, BTW his name is Isaac. My friend, Kayla, tried to drag me against my will to him Wednesday when our grade was doing a picnic/activity day. Anyway, he made it official that day that he likes me, so I've been trying my best to not tense up around him. Anyway, enough with Isaac.**

**My friend, Evan, the one who moved to Currituck, and I got in a huge fight Wednesday. About him criticizing me for trying to help him. And now I won't even text him. Just to say, it happened over text. We don't go to the same school. But that's the hightlight of the A/N from Wednesday. And I'm pretty sure that you aren't even reading this. And I'm sorry for all you 12 year olds that have complicated 'love lives!'**

**You probably don't want to listen to me rant...so on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Chapter 4**

* * *

**Annabeth IV**

Annabeth groaned. "When is it _not_ going to be in my point of view."

"When the chapters of you are over," Travis said in a 'duh' type of tone.

Annabeth glared at him. "It was a rhetorical question, idiot."

Travis blushed, but nodded. Katie smacked him on the back of the head.

**ANNABETH WANTED TO HATE NEW ROME.**

"But the architecture was just too amazing?" Thalia guessed.

"Yes!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"How amazing?" Malcolm asked.

Annabeth opened her mouth to answer, but Percy cut her off by saying, "Wise Girl, I love you, but we don't want to listen about architecture. It'll probably be in the book."

Annabeth pouted but didn't say anything.

"You know," Nick said, "I would love to hear about architecture."

Kylee scoffed. "Yeah, right, you just want to get Allison from the Athena cabin to be your girlfriend."

Nick blushed.

"You like my sister?" Malcolm and Annabeth both asked.

Nick turned beat red. "Yes," He muttered.

Everyone started to laugh, while Nick turned to a color red, it isn't even identified yet.

**But as an aspiring architect, she couldn't help admiring the terraced gardens, the fountains and temples, the winding cobblestone streets and gleaming white villas. After the Titan War last summer, she'd gotten her dream job of redesigning the palaces of Mount Olympus. Now, walking through this miniature city, she kept thinking,****_ I should have made a dome like that. I love the way those columns lead into that courtyard._**

"Hey," Percy said, "Olympus is even more beautiful than it was before."

Annabeth blushed. "Thanks," She said, then kissed Percy's cheek.

**Whoever designed New Rome had clearly poured a lot of time and love into the project.**

"You're doing that with Olympus."

"I know, Seaweed Brain!"

**"We have the best architects and builders in the world," Reyna said, as if reading her thoughts.**

"Yeah, right!" Thalia scoffed. "Our best architects is the Athena cabin!"

Everyone cheered, while Annabeth and Malcolm blushed.

"I agree," Percy said wholeheartedly.

**"Rome always did, in the ancient times. Many demigods stay on to live here after their time in the legion. They go to our university. They settle down to raise families. Percy seemed interested in this fact."**

Everyone looked at Percy, who was blushing a deep red.

"What does that mean, Percy?" Katie asked him.

Percy blushed even more. Annabeth laughed. "You'll see," She told them.

**Annabeth wondered what ****_that_**** meant. She must have scowled more fiercely than she realized, because Reyna laughed.**

**"You're a warrior, all right," the praetor said. "You've got fire in your eyes."**

**"Sorry." Annabeth tried to tone down the glare.**

**"Don't be. I'm the daughter of Bellona."**

Brett gasped. "She's the daughter of baloney?!"

"No, you idiot!" Clarisse hit him on the back of the head.

"Ow!" Brett said. "That hurt." He rubbed his head.

Clarisse smirked. "It was supposed to."

**"Roman goddess of war?"**

"So kinda like Athena?" Jared asked.

Kylee gasped. "What?" Jared demanded.

"You-you said," She swallowed, "you said something...smart!" She exclaimed the last part.

Jared huffed as everyone laughed.

**Reyna nodded. She turned and whistled like she was hailing a cab. A moment later, two metal dogs raced toward them—automaton greyhounds, one silver and one gold. They brushed against Reyna's legs and regarded Annabeth with glistening ruby eyes.**

**"My pets,"Reyna explained. "Aurum and Argentum. You don't mind if they walk with us?"**

**Again, Annabeth got the feeling it wasn't really a request. She noted that the greyhounds had teeth like steel arrowheads. Maybe weapons weren't allowed inside the city, but Reyna's pets could still tear her to pieces if they chose.**

**Reyna led her to an outdoor café, where the waiter clearly knew her.**

"I'm pretty sure he would know her," Chris said, "I mean, she is the praetor."

Annabeth just shrugged, not caring. The past is the past.

**He smiled and handed her a to-go cup, then offered one to Annabeth.**

**"Would you like some?" Reyna asked. "They make wonderful hot chocolate. Not really a Roman drink—"**

"But chocolate is universal," Nyssa said. Everyone nodded.

**"But chocolate is universal," Annabeth said.**

"Ha!" Connor said, pointing a finger at Nyssa. "You think like Annabeth."

Nyssa shrugged. "Better than thinking like you," She retorted. Everyone laughed.

Travis patter Connor on the shoulder. "Burn, man, burn," He said.

**"Exactly."**

**It was a warm June afternoon, but Annabeth accepted the cup with thanks. The two of them walked on, Reyna's gold and silver dogs roaming nearby.**

**"In our camp," Reyna said, "Athena is Minerva. Are you familiar with how her Roman form is different?"**

"No," Everyone said, except Annabeth, who said, "Yes."

**Annabeth hadn't really considered it before. She remembered the way Terminus had called Athena ****_that_**** goddess, as if she were scandalous. Octavian had acted like Annabeth's very existence was an insult. **4

"No it's not!" Everyone protested. Annabeth blushed.

**"I take it Minerva isn't…uh, quite as respected here?"**

**Reyna blew steam from her cup. "We ****_respect_**** Minerva.**

"Yeah, right," Will scoffed. "What a lie."

"I know, right?" Malcolm said.

**She's the goddess of crafts and wisdom…but she isn't really a goddess of war. Not for Romans. She's also a maiden goddess, like Diana…the one you call Artemis. You won't find any children of Minerva here. The idea that Minerva would ****_have_**** children—frankly, it's a little shocking to us."**

"Apparently, everything's shocking to the Romans," Percy said, rolling his eyes.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked.

"Well, to them having a child of Poseidon or Neptune is shocking, having a child of Athena or Minerva is shocking, having a god visit you is shocking," Percy explained. "Like _everything_ is shocking to them!"

"Hmm, I wonder why," Annabeth said sarcastically.

"I know, right!" Percy exclaimed, not noticing the sarcasm she used. Everyone shook their heads at him.

**"Oh." Annabeth felt her face flush. She didn't want to get into the details of Athena's children—how they were born straight from the mind of the goddess, just as Athena herself had sprung from the head of Zeus. Talking about that always made Annabeth feel self-conscious, like she was some sort of freak. People usually asked her whether or not she had a belly button, since she had been born magically. ****_Of course_**** she had a belly button. She couldn't explain how. She didn't really want to know.**

"Same here," Everyone said, even Annabeth and Malcolm.

**"I understand that you Greeks don't see things the same way," Reyna continued. "But Romans take vows of maidenhood very seriously. The Vestal Virgins, for instance…if they broke their vows and fell in love with anyone, they would be buried alive. So the idea that a maiden goddess would have **  
**children—"**

**"Got it." Annabeth's hot chocolate suddenly tasted like dust.**

"No!" Connor shouted.

"Not the hot chocolate!" Travis yelled dramatically.

Everyone rolled their eyes at the idiotic brothers.

**No wonder the Romans had been giving her strange looks. "I'm not supposed to exist.**

"Yes, yes you are!" Percy said. "Every Athena kid is supposed to exist."

Annabeth and Malcolm blushed, as everyone agreed.

**And even if your camp ****_had _****children of Minerva—"**

**"They wouldn't be like you," Reyna said. "They might be craftsmen, artists, maybe advisers, but not warriors. Not leaders of dangerous quests."**

"I'm not the leader," Annabeth protested. "Percy and Jason are."

Percy shook his head. "No, I listen to you, and so does Jason," He said, "and everyone else. Hades, even Hedge listens to you, and he listens to no one."

Grover nodded. "Gleeson isn't one to take order from anyone."

Everyone nodded.

**Annabeth started to object that she wasn't the leader of the quest. Not officially. But she wondered if her friends on the ****_Argo II_**** would agree. The past few days, they had been looking to her for orders—even Jason, who could have pulled rank as the son of Jupiter, and Coach Hedge, who didn't take orders from anyone.**

"Whoa, you guys said almost the same thing," Travis said.

Will nodded. "Yes, Travis, that's what I just read." Everyone laughed at Travis's pouting face.

**"There's more." Reyna snapped her fingers, and her golden dog, Aurum, trotted over. The praetor stroked his ears. "The harpy Ella…it ****_was_**** a prophecy she spoke. We both know that, don't we?"**

Percy scoffed. "Of _course_ it was a prophecy."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "She was just wondering if Annabeth knew it was a prophecy."

It was Percy's turn to roll his eyes. "Annabeth knows everything, so 'course she knew it was a prophecy."

Thalia just roller her eyes. Again.

**Annabeth swallowed. Something about Aurum's ruby eyes made her uneasy. She had heard that dogs could smell fear, even detect changes in a human's breathing and heartbeat. She didn't know if that applied to magical metal dogs, but she decided it would be better to tell the truth.**

"Oh, good." Percy breathed out a sigh of relief.

Everyone was confused. "What do you mean?" Kylee asked.

"Reyna's dogs can detect if you're lying or not," Percy explained. Everyone nodded.

**"It sounded like a prophecy," she admitted. "But I've never met Ella before today, and I've never heard those lines exactly."**

"Now I have," Annabeth muttered.

Percy tightened his grip around her waist.

**"I have," Reyna murmured. "At least some of them—"**

**A few yards away, the silver dog barked.**

"Shit!" Travis said.

"Travis, language!" Katie shouted.

"Okay." He nodded, and kept quite. Everyone was highly confused.

Connor rolled his eyes. Then shouted, "I wanted to know what she was going to say!"

Everyone rolled their eyes at him, but, secretly, wanting to know, too.

**A group of children spilled out of a nearby alleyway and gathered around Argentum, petting the dog and laughing, unfazed by its razor-sharp teeth.**

**"We should move on," Reyna said.**

**They wound their way up the hill. The greyhounds followed, leaving the children behind. Annabeth kept glancing at Reyna's face. A vague memory started tugging at her—the way Reyna brushed her hair behind her ear, the silver ring she wore with the torch and sword design.**

**"We've met before," Annabeth ventured. "You were younger, I think."**

**Reyna gave her a dry smile. "Very good. Percy didn't remember me.**

"It kinda goes with the 'no memories' thing."

"We know that Kelp-Head."

"Well, book-Reyna didn't."

Thalia smirked. "So you're just saying that you talked to a book?"

Percy blushed as everyone laughed.

**Of course you spoke mostly with my older sister Hylla, who is now queen of the Amazons. She left just this morning, before you arrived. At any rate, when we last met, I was a mere handmaiden in the house of Circe."**

"Circe?" Everyone asked.

Percy and Annabeth nodded. "You'll see," Percy said.

**"Circe…" Annabeth remembered her trip to the island of the sorceress. She'd been thirteen. Percy and she had washed ashore from the Sea of Monsters. Hylla had welcomed them. She had helped Annabeth get cleaned up and given her a beautiful new dress and a complete makeover. Then Circe **  
**had made her sales pitch: if Annabeth stayed on the island, she could have magical training and incredible power. Annabeth had been tempted, maybe just a little, until she realized the place was a trap, and Percy had been turned into a rodent.**

Everyone started laughing, although they already knew when Clarisse pointed it out. Percy cursed in Greek and blushed. Again. _It was the same last time,_ He thought.

"Can we just read?" He asked bitterly. Annabeth chuckled and kissed him on the cheek.

**(That last part seemed funny afterward; but at the time, it had been terrifying.) As for Reyna…she'd been one of the servants who had combed Annabeth's hair.**

**"You…" Annabeth said in amazement. "And Hylla is queen of the Amazons? How did you two—?"**

**"Long story," Reyna said. "But I remember you well. You were brave. I'd never seen anyone refuse Circe's hospitality, much less outwit her. It's no wonder Percy cares for you."**

"Of course I care for Annabeth, she's my girlfriend and lover!"

All the girls (just Katie and Kylee) cooed, while the guys were snickering at Percy's red faced when the girls started to coo.

**Her voice was wistful. Annabeth thought it might be safer not to respond.**

"That was safe," Clarisse said.

**They reached the top of the hill, where a terrace overlooked the entire valley.**

**"This is my favorite spot," Reyna said. "The Garden of Bacchus."**

"Who the hell is Bat Cheese?" Travis asked.

"Do they even have bat cheese?" Connor asked.

"It's not Bat Cheese!" Annabeth exclaimed. "_Bacchus._ He's the Roman equivalent to Mr. D."

"Ohh," They said.

But Connor was still confused. "Do they make bat cheese?" He asked. "I really want to know!"

Everyone face-palmed and went back to reading, ignoring Connor.

**Grapevine trellises made a canopy overhead. Bees buzzed through honeysuckle and jasmine, which filled the afternoon air with a dizzying mix of perfumes. In the middle of the terrace stood a statue of Bacchus in a sort of ballet position, wearing nothing but a loincloth, his cheeks puffed out and lips **  
**pursed, spouting water into a fountain.**

Everyone burst out laughing. Some (all guys) were ROFL, and some (all girls) were holding their sides while laughing.

The Stolls were laughing so hard, they had tears in their eyes. Ten minutes later, everyone was ready to read, except the Stolls. Ten more minutes later, everyone was under control.

Nyssa began to read again,

**Despite her worries, Annabeth almost laughed.**

"Almost?" Jared asked.

Annabeth shrugged. "Thought it would be disrespectful if I laughed at Mr. D's statue, ah, _position_." He nodded, accepting the answer.

**She knew the god in his Greek form, Dionysus—or Mr. D, as they called him back at Camp Half-Blood. Seeing their cranky old camp director immortalized in stone, wearing a diaper and spewing water from his mouth, made her feel a little better.**

That sent everyone laughing again.

"Imagine if Mr. D heard this!" Chris said.

"He'd probably turn us mental!" Brett said. Everyone agreed.

"Or dolphins," Grover pipped in. Everyone agreed again.

**Reyna stopped at the edge of the terrace. The view was worth the climb. The whole city spread out below them like a 3-D mosaic. To the south, beyond the lake, a cluster of temples perched on a hill. To the north, an aqueduct marched toward the Berkeley Hills. Work crews were repairing a broken section, probably damaged in the recent battle.**

"Yeah, the battle was bad," Percy sighed. Annabeth grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze.

Nick was confused. "How would you know?" He asked.

"I was there!"

"Really?"

Percy nodded. "Where do you think I was for the past 8 months?" He asked.

Nick blushed and went silent. Nyssa took that as a cue to read.

**"I wanted to hear it from you," Reyna said.**

**Annabeth turned. "Hear ****_what_**** from me?"**

**"The truth," Reyna said. "Convince me that I'm not making a mistake by trusting you. Tell me about yourself. Tell me about Camp Half-Blood. Your friend Piper has sorcery in her words. I spent enough time with Circe to know charmspeak when I hear it. I can't trust what she says.**

"Yes, you can, silly," Travis said.

Katie smacked him on the back of the head. He just grinned in return, she rolled her eyes.

**And Jason…well, he has changed. He seems distant, no longer quite Roman."**

Thalia was seething, but, otherwise, stayed quiet.

**The hurt in her voice was as sharp as broken glass. Annabeth wondered if ****_she_**** had sounded that way, all the months she'd spent searching for Percy.**

Annabeth looked down, and Percy buried his head in her hair.

Connor, oblivious to the tension, said, "You did sound like that."

Thalia threw her hunting knife at him. It land half a millimeter away from his head. Connor cowered in fear, and hid behind Travis.

**At least she'd found her boyfriend. Reyna had no one. She was responsible for running an entire camp all by herself. Annabeth could sense that Reyna wanted Jason to love her. But he had disappeared, only to come back with a new girlfriend. Meanwhile, Percy had risen to praetor, but he had rebuffed Reyna too. Now Annabeth had come to take him away. Reyna would be left alone again, shouldering a job meant for two people**

"Well that's sad," Jared said.

"Dude, what is wrong with you?" Chris asked.

"Really, man, are you sick?" Will said.

Jared shrugged. "I don't know," He admitted. "Am I sick?"

Will just shrugged. "We'll lock you in the small house, and see if you are." He was being sarcastic, but Jared nodded and didn't hear the sarcasm.

"I'm hungry!" Travis wailed.

"How about we eat after this chapter?" Annabeth said.

Everyone (all guys) nodded enthusiastically.

**When Annabeth had arrived at Camp Jupiter, she'd been prepared to negotiate with Reyna or even fight her if needed. She hadn't been prepared to feel sorry for her.**

**She kept that feeling hidden. Reyna didn't strike her as someone who would appreciate pity.**

"She doesn't," Everyone said.

**Instead, she told Reyna about her own life. She talked about her dad and stepmom and her two stepbrothers in San Francisco, and how she had felt like an outsider in her own family. She talked about how she had run away when she was only seven, finding her friends Luke and Thalia and making her way to Camp Half-Blood on Long Island.**

Thalia and Annabeth smiled.

**She described the camp and her years growing up there. She talked about meeting Percy and the adventures they'd had together.**

Percy kissed Annabeth on the cheek.

**Reyna was a good listener.**

**Annabeth was tempted to tell her about more recent problems: her fight with her mom, the gift of the silver coin, and the nightmares she'd been having—about an old fear so paralyzing, she'd almost decided that she couldn't go on this quest.**

Everyone was confused with what they just heard. That is all, except Percy and Annabeth.

"I wish you told me," Percy whispered to Annabeth.

"I know, but I just couldn't open that much up," She admitted. He nodded in understanding.

**But she couldn't bring herself to open up quite that much.**

**When Annabeth was done talking, Reyna gazed over New Rome. Her metal greyhounds sniffed around the garden, snapping at bees in the honeysuckle. Finally Reyna pointed to the cluster of temples on the distant hill.**

**"The small red building," she said, "there on the northern side? That's the temple of my mother, Bellona." Reyna turned toward Annabeth. "Unlike your mother, Bellona has no Greek equivalent. She is fully, truly Roman. She's the goddess of protecting the homeland."**

**Annabeth said nothing. She knew very little about the Roman goddess. She wished she had studied up, but Latin never came as easily to her as Greek. Down below, the hull of the ****_Argo II_**** gleamed as it floated over the forum, like some massive bronze party balloon.**

"Massive bronze party balloons could be cool," Travis said.

Connor nodded. "Yeah, especially in pranking." The two sons of Hermes had identical grins on their faces, with a mischievous spark in their eyes.

Everyone moved a couple inches away from the brothers.

**"When the Romans go to war," Reyna continued, "we first visit the Temple of Bellona. Inside is a symbolic patch of ground that represents enemy soil. We throw a spear into that ground, indicating that we are now at war. You see, Romans have always believed that offense is the best defense. In ancient times, whenever our ancestors felt threatened by their neighbors, they would invade to protect themselves."**

"So they would invade when felt threatened before their neighbors even invade them?" Grover asked.

Percy and Annabeth nodded. "Pretty much."

"That's a little harsh, don't you think?" Katie said.

Clarisse scoffed. "No, it makes perfect sense." Everyone else was just confused as to why the Roman ancestors invaded when felt threatened, even though their neighbors didn't even attack yet.

**"They conquered everyone around them," Annabeth said. "Carthage, the Gauls—"**

**"And the Greeks." Reyna let that comment hang.**

"That was cold," Travis commented.

"Low blow." Connor nodded. Everyone agreed.

**"My point, Annabeth, is that it isn't Rome's nature to cooperate with other powers. Every time Greek and Roman demigods have met, we've fought. Conflicts between our two sides have started some of the most horrible wars in human history—especially civil wars."**

**"It doesn't have to be that way," Annabeth said. "We've got to work together, or Gaea will destroy us both."**

"That's exactly what would happen," Malcolm said.

"Yeah, but we have Gaea to worry about," Percy said, "and you guys have the Romans to worry about."

Everyone was confused. "What Romans to worry about?" Nyssa asked. "We thought that you made peace with them."

"Um, uh...well, you see," Percy stuttered, then sighed. "You'll see." No one wanted to be kept in the dark, but they all kept quiet and continued to read.

**"I agree," Reyna said. "But is cooperation possible? What if Juno's plan is flawed? Even goddesses can make mistakes."**

**Annabeth waited for Reyna to get struck by lightning or turned into a peacock.**

"The world would be full of peacocks," Chris said, "from every time someone pissed off Hera."

Some agreed, some (Stolls) were busy planning. About? You may never know.

**Nothing happened.**

**Unfortunately, Annabeth shared Reyna's doubts. Hera ****_did_**** make mistakes.**

"Hera always makes mistakes," Thalia grumbled. Thunder rumbled. She glared at the sky. Everyone just ignored the thunder, happens all the time.

**Annabeth had had nothing but trouble from that overbearing goddess, and she'd never forgive Hera for taking Percy away, even if it was for a noble cause.**

All of Percy's friends nodded in agreement. They would never forgive Hera for taking their camp leader, friend, brother, idol.

**"I don't trust the goddess," Annabeth admitted. "But I do trust my friends. This isn't a trick, Reyna. We****_ can_**** work together."**

**Reyna finished her cup of chocolate. She set the cup on the terrace railing and gazed over the valley as if imagining battle lines.**

**"I believe you mean it," she said. "But if you go to the ancient lands, especially Rome itself, there is something you should know about your mother."**

**Annabeth's shoulders tensed.**

As did Malcolm's.

**"My—my mother?"**

**"When I lived on Circe's island," Reyna said, "we had many visitors. Once, perhaps a year before you and Percy arrived, a young man washed ashore. He was half mad from thirst and heat. He'd been drifting at sea for days. His words didn't make much sense, but he said he was a son of Athena."**

**Reyna paused as if waiting for a reaction. Annabeth had no idea who the boy might have been. She wasn't aware of any other Athena kids who'd gone on a quest in the Sea of Monsters, but still she felt a sense of dread. The light filtering through the grapevines made shadows writhe across the ground like a swarm of bugs.**

**"What happened to this demigod?" she asked.**

**Reyna waved her hand as if the question was trivial. "Circe turned him into a guinea pig, of course.**

"Of course," Percy grumbled. Annabeth laughed lightly and snuggled into Percy.

**He made quite a crazy little rodent. But ****_before_**** that, he kept raving about his failed quest. He claimed that he'd gone to Rome, following the Mark of Athena."**

Everyone was thinking about the Mark of Athena.

**Annabeth grabbed the railing to keep her balance.**

**"Yes," Reyna said, seeing her discomfort. "He kept muttering about wisdom's child, the Mark of Athena, and the giants' bane standing pale and gold. The same lines Ella was just reciting.**

Now they were really thinking about the mark.

**But you say that you've never heard them before today?"**

**"Not—not the way Ella said them." Annabeth's voice was weak. She wasn't lying. She'd never heard that prophecy, but her mother had charged her with following the Mark of Athena; and as she thought about the coin in her pocket, a horrible suspicion began taking root in her mind. She remembered her mother's scathing words. She thought about the strange nightmares she'd been having lately. "Did this demigod—did he explain his quest?"**

**Reyna shook her head. "At the time, I had no idea what he was talking about. Much later, when I became praetor of Camp Jupiter, I began to suspect."**

**"Suspect…what?"**

**"There is an old legend that the praetors of Camp Jupiter have passed down through the centuries. If it's true, it may explain why our two groups of demigods have never been able to work together. It may be the cause of our animosity. Until this old score is finally settled, so the legend goes, Romans and Greeks will never be at peace. And the legend centers on Athena—"**

**A shrill sound pierced the air.**

"Aww!" Travis whined.

"I wanted to know what she was going to say!" Connor whined along with Travis.

**Light flashed in the corner of Annabeth's eye.**

**She turned in time to see an explosion blast a new crater in the forum. A burning couch tumbled through the air. Demigods scattered in panic.**

**"Giants?" Annabeth reached for her dagger, which of course wasn't there. "I thought their army was defeated!"**

**"It isn't the giants." Reyna's eyes seethed with rage. "You've betrayed our trust."**

"What?!" Everyone, sans Annabeth and Percy, yelled.

**"What? No!"**

**As soon as she said it, the ****_Argo II_**** launched a second volley.**

Everyone was very confused and Nyssa was thinking about Leo. _What if he's doing this?_ She thought. Then she cursed herself. _No,_ she thought, _Leo would never fire, unless...something happened to him._

**Its port ballista fired a massive spear wreathed in Greek fire, which sailed straight through the broken dome of the Senate House and exploded inside, lighting up the building like a jack-o'-lantern. If anyone had been in there…**

**"Gods, no." A wave of nausea almost made Annabeth's knees buckle. "Reyna, it isn't possible. We'd never do this!"**

**The metal dogs ran to their mistress's side. They snarled at Annabeth but paced uncertainly, as if reluctant to attack.**

**"You're telling the truth," Reyna judged. "Perhaps you were not aware of this treachery, but ****_someone_**** must pay."**

**Down in the forum, chaos was spreading. Crowds were pushing and shoving. Fistfights were breaking out.**

**"Bloodshed," Reyna said.**

**"We have to stop it!"**

**Annabeth had a horrible feeling this might be the last time Reyna and she ever acted in agreement, but together they ran down the hill.**

**If weapons had been allowed in the city, Annabeth's friends would have already been dead. The Roman demigods in the forum had coalesced into an angry mob. Some threw plates, food, and rocks at the ****_Argo II_****, which was pointless, as most of the stuff fell back into the crowd.**

**Several dozen Romans had surrounded Piper and Jason, who were trying to calm them without much luck. Piper's charmspeak was useless against so many screaming, angry demigods. Jason's forehead was bleeding. His purple cloak had been ripped to shreds.**

Thalia was worried for her brother, praying he wouldn't get hurt.

**He kept pleading, "I'm on your side!" but his orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt didn't help matters—nor did the warship overhead, firing flaming spears into New Rome.**

"Yeah, that wouldn't work," Brett commented. Kylee smacked him.

**One landed nearby and blasted a toga shop to rubble.**

**"Pluto's pauldrons," Reyna cursed.**

"What the hell is a pauldron?" Percy asked.

Annabeth opened her mouth, but Percy interrupted her, "Wise Girl, I love you, but I'm not that desperate." She glared at him but kept quite. He kissed her cheek.

**"Look."**

**Armed legionnaires were hurrying toward the forum. Two artillery crews had set up catapults just **  
**outside the Pomerian Line and were preparing to fire at the ****_Argo II._**

**"That'll just make things worse," Annabeth said.**

**"I hate my job," Reyna growled. She rushed off toward the legionnaires, her dogs at her side.**

**_Percy,_**** Annabeth thought, scanning the forum desperately. ****_Where are you?_**

"And, of course..." Travis started.

"...you look for Percy," Connor finished. Everyone just ignored them.

**Two Romans tried to grab her. She ducked past them, plunging into the crowd. As if the angry Romans, burning couches, and exploding buildings weren't confusing enough, hundreds of purple ghosts drifted through the forum, passing straight through the demigods' bodies and wailing incoherently. The fauns had also taken advantage of the chaos. They swarmed the dining tables, grabbing food, plates, and cups. One trotted by Annabeth with his arms full of tacos and an entire pineapple between his teeth.**

**A statue of Terminus exploded into being, right in front of Annabeth. He yelled at her in Latin, no doubt calling her a liar and a rule breaker; but she pushed the statue over and kept running.**

"Yeah!" The Stolls cheered.

"No one likes that statue, anyway," Clarisse snarled.

**Finally she spotted Percy. He and his friends, Hazel and Frank, were standing in the middle of a fountain as Percy repelled the angry Romans with blasts of water. Percy's toga was in tatters, but he looked unhurt.**

**Annabeth called to him as another explosion rocked the forum. This time the flash of light was directly overhead. One of the Roman catapults had fired, and the****_ Argo II_**** groaned and tilted sideways, flames bubbling over its bronze-plated hull.**

**Annabeth noticed a figure clinging desperately to the rope ladder, trying to climb down. It was Octavian, his robes steaming and his face black with soot.**

**Over by the fountain, Percy blasted the Roman mob with more water. Annabeth ran toward him, ducking a Roman fist and a flying plate of sandwiches.**

**"Annabeth!" Percy called. "What—?"**

**"I don't know!" she yelled.**

**"I'll tell you what!" cried a voice from above. Octavian had reached the bottom of the ladder. "The Greeks have ****_fired_**** on us! Your boy Leo has trained his weapons on Rome!"**

Everyone gasped, thinking that Leo would never do something like that. Nyssa squeezed her eyes shut, praying that that scarecrow guy was lying. Will, sensing her discomfort, put an arm around her.

**Annabeth's chest filled with liquid hydrogen. She felt like she might shatter into a million frozen pieces.**

**"You're lying," she said. "Leo would never—"**

**"I was just there!" Octavian shrieked. "I saw it with my own eyes!"**

"He's lying," Katie chocked out. She couldn't believe that Leo wold do that. Travis wanted to put an arm around her, but thought different of it. She hates him, she would never let him do something like that.

**The ****_Argo II_**** returned fire. Legionnaires in the field scattered as one of their catapults was blasted to splinters.**

**"You see?" Octavian screamed. "Romans, kill the invaders!"**

**Annabeth growled in frustration. There was no time for anyone to figure out the truth. The crew from Camp Half-Blood was outnumbered a hundred to one, and even if Octavian had managed to stage some sort of trick (which she thought likely),**

So did everyone else, Nyssa the most.

**they'd never be able to convince the Romans before they were overrun and killed.**

**"We have to leave," she told Percy. ****_"Now."_**

**He nodded grimly. "Hazel, Frank, you've got to make a choice. Are you coming?"**

**Hazel looked terrified, but she donned her cavalry helmet. "Of course we are. But you'll never make it to the ship unless we buy you some time."**

_How?_ Everyone wondered.

**"How?" Annabeth asked.**

**Hazel whistled. Instantly a blur of beige shot across the forum. A majestic horse materialized next to the fountain. He reared, whinnying and scattering the mob. Hazel climbed on his back like she'd been born to ride. Strapped to the horse's saddle was a Roman cavalry sword.**

**Hazel unsheathed her golden blade. "Send me an Iris-message when you're safely away, and we'll rendezvous," she said. "Arion, ride!"**

"Arion needs his mouth washed out," Percy said.

"Why?" Chris asked.

"That horse _loves_ to cuss," He said. "He can't go one sentence without cussing, unless he's tired and/or hungry."

Everyone laughed at the fact that they never knew a horse could cuss.

**The horse zipped through the crowd with incredible speed, pushing back Romans and causing mass panic.**

"Wow," Malcolm said. "Arion is the fastest thing in the world. The son of Demeter and Poseidon."

Everyone looked at Percy. He grumbled about being related to a horse.

**Annabeth felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe they could make it out of here alive. Then, from halfway across the forum, she heard Jason shouting.**

**"Romans!" he cried. "Please!"**

**He and Piper were being pelted with plates and stones. Jason tried to shield Piper, but a brick caught him above the eye. He crumpled, and the crowd surged forward.**

Thalia was so worried, that her fingernails were cutting into the armchair of her seat. Percy took her hand, but that didn't work, she just squeezed his hand 'til it was purple. But Percy didn't mind, he just wanted Thalia to calm down, and not worry. Since Jason was alright and well.

**"Get back!" Piper screamed. Her charmspeak rolled over the mob, making them hesitate, but Annabeth knew the effect wouldn't last. Percy and she couldn't possibly reach them in time to help.**

**"Frank," Percy said, "it's up to you. Can you help them?"**

**Annabeth didn't understand how Frank could do that all by himself,**

"Yeah, we don't understand either," Jared said. "'Cause I am _so_ much better than him."

Percy shook his head. "You shouldn't doubt Frank," He said. "Besides, he's family."

"What do you mean?" Grover asked.

"He's a descendant of Poseidon," Percy answered.

"You mean Neptune?" Thalia questioned.

"No," He said, "I mean Poseidon. His family history is very complicated."

"I can tell," Clarisse muttered.

**but he swallowed nervously.**

**"Oh, gods," he murmured. "Okay, sure. Just get up the ropes. Now."**

**Percy and Annabeth lunged for the ladder. Octavian was still clinging to the bottom, but Percy yanked him off and threw him into the mob.**

**They began to climb as armed legionnaires flooded into the forum. Arrows whistled past Annabeth's head. An explosion almost knocked her off the ladder. Halfway up, she heard a roar below and glanced down.**

**Romans screamed and scattered as a full-sized dragon charged through the forum—a beast even scarier than the bronze dragon figurehead on the ****_Argo II._**** It had rough gray skin like a Komodo lizard's and leathery bat wings.**

Percy and Annabeth were smirking as everyone put the pieces together.

**Arrows and rocks bounced harmlessly off its hide as it lumbered toward Piper and Jason, grabbed them with its front claws, and vaulted into the air.**

**"Is that… ?" Annabeth couldn't even put the thought into words.**

**"Frank," Percy confirmed,**

Everyone gasped. "Do you want to flirt with his girlfriend now?" Percy asked, still smirking.

Jared shook his head. "No," He said weakly. Now he knew to move on to another girl.

**a few feet above her. "He has a few special talents."**

"'Special talents,'" Jared repeated.

**"Understatement," Annabeth muttered. "Keep climbing!"**

**Without the dragon and Hazel's horse to distract the archers, they never would have made it up the ladder; but finally they climbed past a row of broken aerial oars and onto the deck. The rigging was on fire. The foresail was ripped down the middle, and the ship listed badly to starboard.**

**There was no sign of Coach Hedge, but Leo stood amidships, calmly reloading the ballista. Annabeth's gut twisted with horror.**

**"Leo!" she screamed. "What are you ****_doing_****?"**

**"Destroy them…" He faced Annabeth. His eyes were glazed. His movements were like a robot's. "Destroy them all."**

Nyssa put the book down. "Is he..." She swallowed. "Is he...possessed?" She asked. Will gripped her hand. He knew this was hard for her, learning that her half-brother was possessed by Hades knows what.

Percy just said, "You'll see."

**He turned back to the ballista, but Percy tackled him. Leo's head hit the deck hard, and his eyes rolled up so that only the whites showed.**

Percy winced. "I should've done it more carefully."

"Now we know to never get tackled by Percy," Travis stated weakly. Connor nodded, and took out a notebook and pen, then scribbled something from it. Probably Percy's name.

**The gray dragon soared into view. It circled the ship once and landed at the bow, depositing Jason and Piper, who both collapsed.**

**"Go!" Percy yelled. "Get us out of here!"**

**With a shock, Annabeth realized he was talking to her.**

**She ran for the helm. She made the mistake of glancing over the rail and saw armed legionnaires closing ranks in the forum, preparing flaming arrows. Hazel spurred Arion, and they raced out of the city with a mob chasing after them. More catapults were being wheeled into range. All along the Pomerian Line, the statues of Terminus were glowing purple, as if building up energy for some kind of attack.**

**Annabeth looked over the controls. She cursed Leo for making them so complicated. No time for fancy maneuvers, but she did know one basic command: ****_Up._**

"At least you knew that command," Nyssa sighed.

**She grabbed the aviation throttle and yanked it straight back. The ship groaned. The bow tilted up at a horrifying angle. The mooring lines snapped, and the ****_Argo II_**** shot into the clouds.**

Nyssa snapped the book shut. "Done."

"FOOD!" All the guys shouted, and ran to the small house. The girls shook their heads, but followed anyway.

* * *

**Hey cupcakes! See? I told you my story would be up by Friday! Since today was the last day of school, I decided to celebrate by updating. So I hope you liked the chapter. The next one would be up by next week, probably.**

**Anyway R&R! Later cupcakes!**

**Nick**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello cupcakes! Thanks for the reviews! The other day I saw Iron Man 3, and last night I saw the Amazing Spider-Man. Yes! Spider-man! He's my hero! No, just kidding. But I'm serious, he's my favorite hero! EVER!**

**If I don't go on with the story, I'm gonna end up ranting about Spider-Man the amazing.**

**To the story!**

**Chapter 6**

**Percy's POV**

* * *

When all the guys got up and ran to the little house, screaming 'FOOD!', I stopped Annabeth, and lead her to the edge of the clearing.

"Annabeth," I said.

"Yeah?" She looked at me, here sparkling gray eyes meeting my sea-green ones.

I sighed. "You do know we're going to have to tell them, right?" I asked.

She nodded. "I just don't want to," She admitted. "I don't want them to know we're in Tartarus." She whispered the last par, incase someone heard her.

I embraced her in a hug. "I know," I said. "I don't wan them to know either."

"But they're going to find out, anyway," Annabeth said sadly. "They'll find out at the end of the book, probably."

I nodded. "And I know they didn't by our lie when we told them."

Annabeth laughed lightly. "Oh, I know."

I leaned down and kissed her, wrapping my arms around her waist. Annabeth put her hands on the back of my head, running her fingers through my hair. We haven't had a kiss like that in...I'm not sure, it's hard to tell time in the Underworld. The kiss was passionate, and perfect. Every time I kissed Annabeth, butterflies flew in my stomach, and my brain turned to mush. We eventually had to break it, for loss of air.

Annabeth stared at me, a smile on her lips. I grinned at her, and took her hand, leading her to the small house were everyone was at.

**Travis' POV (didn't see that did ya?)**

Connor and I ran to the little house for food, but stopped and changed course when we saw Percy and Annabeth talking. Ever since they got here, they haven't been the same. There was fear and sadness in their eyes, as if they went through hell and back.

Anyway, we decided to eavesdrop on their conversation, and run away when they kissed. And I needed to ask Katie a question before our break was over and we started to book.

So we walked over to the edge of the clearing, where Percy and Annabeth were, and hid behind some bushes, far away from them to not see us, but close enough for use to hear them.

At first, they just stared at each other. "Dude, they aren't saying anything," Connor whispered from beside me.

"Shhh!" I shushed him.

Percy suddenly took a deep breath, and said, "Annabeth."

"Yeah?" She looked at him. I feel like I'm watching a soap opera.

He sighed. "You do know we're going to have to tell them, right?" _Tell us what?_ I thought. I looked at Connor, he looked like he was thinking the same thing.

She nodded. "I just don't want to," She admitted. "I don't want them to know we're in Tartarus."

Connor and I gasped silently. She just said Tartarus! She just said they came from Tartarus! We looked at each other with wide eyes and jaws open. Connor looked like he wanted to run for it, but I put a hand on his shoulder, silently telling him to wait. We listen again.

Percy hugged her. "I know," I said. "I don't wan them to know either."

"But they're going to find out, anyway," Annabeth said sadly. "They'll find out at the end of the book, probably."

Her nodded. "And I know they didn't by our lie when we told them."

Annabeth laughed lightly. "Oh, I know."

Percy didn't say anything, just kissed her and that was our cue to run to the little house.

We barged through the door. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at us. They were looking at us with wide eyes.

Katie decided to break the silence, "Where have you guys been?"

If I didn't just hear what Percy and Annabeth were talking about, I would have given her a sarcastic remark, but I was freaking about what I just heard. "W-we we-were e-eavesdropping on P-Percy a-and A-An-Annabeth," I stuttered.

Everyone frowned at us. They were probably wondering why we were both shocked. Connor was frozen, not moving at all, and I was stuttering.

"Are you guys alright?" Will asked.

"No!" I exclaimed. "We're not alight!" They were all taken aback from my sudden exclamation.

Katie walked up to me, and put a hand on my arm. "Travis," She said softly, "what's wrong?"

I stared at her. I wanted so badly to ask her my question, but I couldn't, at least, not now. I looked out the window. Percy and Annabeth were still standing at the edge of the clearing, talking. I turned back to everyone else.

"Okay," I said, "I need everyone to sit at the table."

"Why?" Chris asked.

"Just do it," I demanded. "I need to tell you all something."

Slowly, everyone sat at the table. Connor and I were the only ones standing. "Alight, Connor and I just heard something terrible," I announced.

"What?" Clarisse asked. "That you aren't gong to get a girlfriend. Everyone laughed, but Katie frowned. Huh, wonder why.

"No," Connor snapped. "Something that will leave you all shocked." He turned to me. "You can tell them."

"What?" I asked. "No! I don't want to tell them!"

"Well neither do I!" He protested.

"Guys!" Katie interrupted us, her grass green eyes glaring at us.

I took a deep breath. "Okay, Percy and Annabeth were talking about where they were before they came here."

"Did they say?" Thalia asked. "Because I know they told a lie when we asked."

Connor nodded. "They did lie," He admitted. "But half of it was true. They are finding their way to Greece, and they aren't with the other seven."

"Well, where are they?" Nyssa asked.

I opened my mouth to say the answer, but Percy and Annabeth came in. "Hey, guys," Percy greeted. "What'd we miss?"

"Nothing," Connor said, "Katie was just telling everyone about a stupid prank we did that backfired."

"Oh, okay," Annabeth said. But I knew she didn't by it.

"Hey, Katie," I said.

"Yeah?" She looked at me.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked. I looked at everyone wearily. "Privately."

"Sure," She shrugged, and followed me outside.

I turned to her when I stopped. "Katie, ca-can I ask y-you a q-q-question?"

She giggled. "You just did."

I blushed. "A different one."

Katie nodded. "Sure."

I took a deep breath. "Katie, I-I, um...well...I just...no, wait...I want...I mean, I...like...well." I keep stuttering! I can't do this.

I gathered up my courage, before I could lose it, I kissed her. I kissed Katie Gardner. At first, she didn't do anything, then she kissed back. I wrapped my arms around her waist. She put her hands on the back of my neck, pulling me closer to her. Eventually, we had to pull back from air loss. Stupid air!

"Do you want to go out with me?" I asked.

Katie rolled her eyes. "What do you think?"

A wide grin spread on my face. "Yes," I said. She nodded, and pecked me on the lips. I took her hand in mine.

Everyone came out of the little house and walked over to their seats. Connor winked at me and gave me a thumbs up when he saw out hands intertwined. We walked back to our seats. Katie sat in my lap and I wrapped my arms around her waist.

"You're together?" Brett gasped.

I nodded. "Yeah, an official couple!" I announced.

"Good job, Travis," Percy said.

"Thanks," I said.

"What?" Katie asked.

"Oh, everyone at camp knew Travis liked you," Kylee said.

"Really?" Katie looked at me. I blushed.

"Can we get back to the books?" I asked, not liking the attention.

Everyone laughed, and Katie kissed my cheek, which made me grin.

"Who want's to read?" Nyssa asked.

"I would," Chris volunteered.

**Leo IV**

* * *

**Hey, cupcakes. I hope you liked the chapter. Sorry if it's short, but I told you I'd get a knew one up! The next one will be up sometime this week or next week. I'm not sure yet. Anyway, see you cupcakes later!**

**R&R**

**Nick**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey cupcakes! Been a while hasn't it? Sorry for the long update! I've been extremely busy! I've been helping some of my dad's friends at the 'Fish and Wildlife Center,' you know, volunteer work. Then I'm going to help with Bible Study this week int he mornings, and help my friends do a 4th of July party. So yeah, I've been busy, but I'm making it up to you now! Enjoy the chapter! Or enjoy the story if you havent' read it yet!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Chapter 7**

* * *

Chris opened the book and began to read.

**Leo V**

"Oh, good," Annabeth said. "It's not in my point of view."

"Yes!" The Stoll cheered.

"More blackmail!" Travis exclaimed.

"For years!" Connor yelled. Katie hit them both on the head.

"Ow, Katie-Kat, that hurt," Travis pouted.

Katie rolled her eyes, but kissed his cheek. Travis got a big grin on his face.

**LEO WISHED HE COULD INVENT a time machine.**

"That'd be so cool!" Brett yelled.

"I can go back to the dionsaur time!" Nick exclaimed.

"And I can get away from you dorks!" Thalia said with fake happiness.

The both pouted as everyone laughed.

**He'd go back two hours and undo what had happened. Either that, or he could invent a Slap-Leo-in-the-Face machine**

"Oh, I like that one!" Thalia said, smiling happily.

Percy nodded. "We can use it for the Stolls," He said. "We can call it: Slap-Stolls-in-the-Face machine." He grinned at the Stolls, who pouted and everyone laughed.

"That hurt, Perce!" Travis put his hand over his heart mockingly.

Percy waved aside the statement. "Aw, suck it up, Travis."

The said boy pouted.

**to punish himself, though he doubted it would hurt as badly as the look Annabeth was giving him.**

"Annabeth's looks are hurt badly when they're directed toward you," Malcolm said.

"Speaking from experience, Mal?" Kylee questioned, smirking.

Malcolm glared at her, but she just waved it aside.

**"One more time," she said. "Exactly ****_what_**** happened?"**

**Leo slumped against the mast. His head still throbbed from hitting the deck.**

"Oops," Percy said sheepishly. "I could've done it softer."

"You think?" Nyssa said sarcastically. Percy only grinned at her in return.

**All around him, his beautiful new ship was in shambles. The aft crossbows were piles of kindling. The foresail was tattered. The satellite array that powered the on board Internet and TV was blown to bits, which had really made Coach Hedge mad.**

"Of course," Grover grumbled.

**Their bronze dragon figurehead, Festus, was coughing up smoke like he had a hairball, and Leo could tell from the groaning sounds on the port side that some of the aerial oars had been knocked out of alignment or broken off completely, which explained why the ship was listing and shuddering as it flew, the engine wheezing like an asthmatic steam train.**

**He choked back a sob. "I don't know. It's fuzzy."**

"It's fuzzy?" Clarisse demanded.

Annabeth and Percy looked at each other. Percy subconsciously rubbed the back of his head.

Connor and Travis glanced at each other. They so badly wanted to tell everyone about where Percy and Annabeth came from. _Next break,_ Connor thought. _We'll tell them when Percy and Annabeth aren't there._

**Too many people were looking at him: Annabeth (Leo ****_hated_**** to make her angry; that girl scared him),**

"She scares everyone, Leo," Travis said. All the guys shuddered.

"That just makes her more awesome," Percy grinned.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Annabeth said, but she was smiling.

**Coach Hedge with his furry goat legs, his orange polo shirt, and his baseball bat (did he have to carry that everywhere?),**

"Yes," Grover mumbled.

**and the newcomer, Frank.**

**Leo wasn't sure what to make of Frank. He looked like a baby sumo wrestler, though Leo wasn't stupid enough to say that aloud.**

"Good thing he didn't," Percy stated.

"Why?" Brett asked.

"You don't want to know," Percy said, shuddering a bit.

**Leo's memory was hazy, but while he'd been half conscious, he was pretty sure he'd seen a dragon land on the ship—a dragon that had turned into Frank.**

"Then you, kind sir, would be correct," Travis said in a fake British accent.

Katie hit him on the back of the head. "Just 'cause we're dating, doesn't mean I can't hit you."

Travis nodded, and kept quiet, but not before he kissed Katie on the head.

**Annabeth crossed her arms. "You mean you don't remember?"**

**"I…" Leo felt like he was trying to swallow a marble.**

"I tried to swallow a marble once," Jared said. "It wasn't easy."

Everyone looked at him oddly. "Why?" Annabeth asked.

Jared put his hands up in surrender. "Hey, it wasn't my fault," He defended. "The Hecate cabin said it was candy, and when I tried to eat it, they said it was a marble."

Everyone turned to Lou, who had been so silent during the book. "What?" She asked, then sighed. "Okay, yeah, we did that," She said. "But it was mostly Byron, he thought of it, then we did some magic."

Some just shrugged, and turned back to the book. And Some were planing on doing it again, *cough* Stolls *cough.*

**"I remember, but it's like I was watching myself do things. I couldn't control it."**

"I know the feeling," Percy muttered.

Annabeth smiled, and kissed his cheek. Percy grinned and brought her closer to him.

Travis and Connor shared a look. They didn't know how long they could keep it a secret.

**Coach Hedge tapped his bat against the deck. In his gym clothes, with his cap pulled over his horns, he looked just like he used to at the Wilderness School, where he'd spent a year undercover as Jason, Piper, and Leo's P.E. teacher. The way the old satyr was glowering, Leo almost wondered if the **  
**coach was going to order him to do push-ups.**

"He probably would," Grover mused.

"He made me do push-ups one time," Nick said sadly.

"Why?" Nyssa asked.

"It wasn't my fault!" He protested.

"What did you do?" Will asked.

"Well." Nick wrung his hands together. Everyone looked at him. "Okay, okay!" He took a deep breath. "I called him short."

Everyone burst out laughed. "A-and h-he ma-made y-you do pu-push-ups?" Chris chocked out.

Nick nodded. "It wasn't my fault!"

"Sure, it wasn't your fault for calling him short," Clarisse said sarcastically. **(is it just me, or do any of you think of Clarisse as Australian? no offense to any Australian people who are reading this, I was just wondering..) **

Nick just grumbled in response.

**"Look, kid," Hedge said, "you blew up some stuff. You attacked some Romans. Awesome! Excellent!**

"He is so crazy," Will commented.

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious," Clarisse said sarcastically.

Will rolled his eyes at her.

**But did you ****_have_**** to knock out the satellite channels? I was right in the middle of watching a cage match."**

"Yeah," Connor said.

"Why did you do that, Leo?" Travis asked.

Everyone rolled their eyes at them.

**"Coach," Annabeth said, "why don't you make sure all the fires are out?"**

**"But I already did that."**

**"Do it again."**

**The satyr trudged off, muttering under his breath. Even Hedge wasn't crazy enough to defy Annabeth.**

"No one's crazy enough to defy Annabeth," Malcolm said.

"Well, except maybe the Stolls," Chris said.

"And looked how well that turned out," Will pointed out.

"They were in the infirmary for five weeks," Nyssa said.

The new campers stared at Annabeth in horror. She just shrugged it away, not really caring. Besides, the Stolls were fine afterward.

**She knelt next to Leo. Her gray eyes were as steely as ball bearings. Her blond hair fell loose around her shoulders, but Leo didn't find that attractive.**

"Wow, thanks, Leo," Annabeth said sarcastically.

"I find you attractive," Percy said.

"Thanks, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth kissed his cheek.

Travis and Connor stared at them with sadness in their eyes. How would everyone react with the news they'll tell them?

**He had no idea where the stereotype of dumb giggly blondes came from.**

"Neither did we," Everyone said. Laughing afterward at what they said.

**Ever since he'd met Annabeth at the Grand Canyon last winter, when she'd marched toward him with that ****_Give me Percy Jackson or I'll kill you_**** expression, Leo thought of blondes as much too smart and much too dangerous.**

"Good thing," Annabeth said.

**"Leo," she said calmly, "did Octavian trick you somehow? Did he frame you, or—"**

"Did he?" Kylee asked.

"You'll see," Annabeth and Percy said, smirking at Kylee's annoyed expression.

**"No." Leo could have lied and blamed that stupid Roman, but he didn't want to make a bad situation worse. "The guy was a jerk,**

Percy nodded in agreement. "Oh, yeah," He said seriously. "Octavian's such a jerk, that's why I took on the preatorship Reyna offered."

"So, you didn't want it?" Nick asked.

Percy shook his head. "No, of course not," He said. "I hate power, I just don't think I can handle it well."

"But you're the camp leader," Brett frowned. "How does that work?"

Percy shrugged. "I have no idea," He said honestly. "It's me and Annabeth as the leaders, I guess."

"Annabeth and I," Malcolm corrected.

Percy stared at him strangely. "No, I'm pretty sure it's me and Annabeth," He said, confusion etched in his features.

"No, Percy," Malcolm said, "the correct grammar is 'Annabeth and I,' you said 'me and Annabeth' which is incorrect."

"If people understand me," Percy started, "then there's no reason for proper grammar."

Malcolm just sighed and gave up. Chris decided to read again, before and stupid questions were asked, *cough* Stolls, Brett, Nick, Jared *cough.*

**but he didn't fire on the camp. I did."**

**The new kid, Frank, scowled. "On purpose?"**

"I would hope not," Percy grumbled.

Annabeth rolled her eyes at him, and kissed his cheek, making him grin.

**"No!" Leo squeezed his eyes shut. "Well, yes…I mean, I didn't want to. But at the same time, I felt like I wanted to. Something was making me do it. There was this cold feeling inside me—"**

"That's how I felt," Percy muttered to Annabeth, who nodded and leaned into him.

**"A cold feeling." Annabeth's tone changed. She sounded almost…scared.**

**"Yeah," Leo said. "Why?"**

**From belowdecks, Percy called up, "Annabeth, we need you."**

**Oh, gods, Leo thought. Please let Jason be okay.**

Thalia closed her eyes. Praying among the same lines. Percy took her hand in his, calming her down. It didn't work well, Thalia just dug her fingernails in his hand, she was just really worried, but Percy didn't mind. She did it before, she can do it again.

**As soon as they'd gotten on board, Piper had taken Jason below. The cut on his head had looked pretty bad. Leo had known Jason longer than anyone at Camp Half-Blood. They were best friends. If Jason didn't make it…**

Thalia tensed. She lost Jason once, she couldn't afford to lose him again. She would be broken beyond repair. Percy squeezed her hand in reassurance.

**"He'll be fine." Annabeth's expression softened. "Frank, I'll be back. Just…watch Leo. Please."**

**Frank nodded.**

**If it was possible for Leo to feel worse, he did. Annabeth now trusted a Roman demigod she'd known for like, three seconds, more than she trusted Leo.**

"I trust Leo," Annabeth defend. "Just not at the time. I was afraid something like that would happen again."

**Once she was gone, Leo and Frank stared at each other. The big dude looked pretty odd in his bed sheet toga, with his gray pullover hoodie and jeans, and a bow and quiver from the ship's armory slung over his shoulder. Leo remembered the time he had met the Hunters of Artemis—a bunch of cute lithe girls in silvery clothes, all armed with bows.**

Thalia scowled at that as everyone laughed. _Watch out, Valdez,_ she thought angrily.

**He imagined Frank frolicking along with them. The idea was so ridiculous, it almost made him feel better.**

**"So," Frank said. "Your name isn't Sammy?"**

"What kind of question is that?" Chris asked, interrupting his own reading.

"A very important one," Percy answered.

"How?" Will asked.

"You'll see." Percy and Annabeth smirked at everyone's groans and 'I hate those words's.

**Leo scowled. "What kind of question is that?"**

"NO!" Chris exclaimed, making everyone jump.

"What?!" Everyone yelled.

Chris looked horrified. "I think like," He shivered, then continued, "Leo."

Everyone laughed as Chris pouted.

**"Nothing," Frank said quickly. "I just— Nothing. About the firing on the camp…Octavian could be behind it, like magically or something. He didn't want the Romans getting along with you guys."**

**Leo wanted to believe that. He was grateful to this kid for not hating him. But he knew it hadn't been Octavian.****_ Leo_**** had walked to a ballista and started firing. Part of him had known it was wrong. He'd asked himself: ****_What the heck am I doing?_**** But he'd done it anyway.**

Nyssa was still thinking overdrive. She _knew_ Leo wouldn't do that. It must have been someone else. Like Gaea, maybe? _Probably_, Nyssa told herself. _Gaea is just trying to get the Greeks and Romans apart, it's her fault._

**Maybe he was going crazy. The stress of all those months working on the ****_Argo II_**** might've finally made him crack.**

Nyssa doubted that. Even thought Leo was stressed for the past eight months, he would have done that.

**But he couldn't think about that. He needed to do something productive. His hands needed to be busy.**

**"Look," he said, "I should talk to Festus and get a damage report. You mind… ?"**

**Frank helped him up. "Who is Festus?"**

**"My friend," Leo said. "His name isn't Sammy either, in case you're wondering.**

"Yeah, 'cause I was _so_ wondering if his name was Sammy," Brett said sarcastically, "when you just said his name was Festus."

"Really?" Travis asked, not detecting the sarcasm in his voice.

"No, you idiot!" Clarisse said, smacking the back of his head. "It was sarcasm. But of course, you would know with all the brain cells you lost since you fell out of the tree."

"Hey! It wasn't my fault!" Travis defended. "It was our neighbors! He pushed me out of the tree when I was five!"

Everyone, except Connor, stared at Travis. "What?" The said boy asked stupidly. Everyone just shook their heads and went back to the book.

**Come on. I'll introduce you."**

**Fortunately the bronze dragon wasn't damaged. Well, aside from the fact that last winter he'd lost everything except his head—but Leo didn't count that.**

"Why?" Nick asked. Everyone just shrugged, not knowing the answer.

**When they reached the bow of the ship, the figurehead turned a hundred and eighty degrees to look at them. Frank yelped and backed away.**

**"It's alive!" he said.**

Everyone laughed at his reaction.

**Leo would have laughed if he hadn't felt so bad. "Yeah. Frank, this is Festus. He used to be a full bronze dragon, but we had an accident."**

**"You have a lot of accidents," Frank noted.**

Nyssa snorted. "That's an understatement," She said. "But I'm pretty sure Percy has had more accidents."

Everyone nodded in agreement, as Percy pouted, and gave a "Hey!" Annabeth chuckled lightly and pecked his cheek, which made Percy grin.

**"Well, some of us can't turn into dragons, so we have to build our own." Leo arched his eyebrows at Frank.**

"Well that was mean," Katie scoffed.

"He was just upset about his precious 'baby," Annabeth said, putting quotation marks on 'baby.'

Everyone laughed at what Annabeth said.

**"Anyway, I revived him as a figurehead. He's kind of the ship's main interface now. How are things looking, Festus?"**

**Festus snorted smoke and made a series of squeaking, whirring sounds. Over the last few months, Leo had learned to interpret this machine language. Other demigods could understand Latin and Greek. Leo could speak Creak and Squeak.**

Everyone laughed at Leo's choice of words, but Nyssa was in deep thought. _If Leo could actually come out of Bunker 9,_ Nyssa thought, _he might be able to interact with people at camp better._

**"Ugh," Leo said. "Could be worse, but the hull is compromised in several places. The port aerial oars have to be fixed before we can go full speed again. We'll need some repair materials: Celestial bronze, tar, lime—"**

**"What do you need limes for?"**

"I'm hungry!" Travis whined.

"We just ate!" Katie said.

"I'm hungry too!" Connor whined.

Before Travis could say anything, Katie kissed him.

"Well that's one way to shut him up," Clarisse said, looking relived that one Stoll was down. _One more to go!_ She thought.

**"Dude, ****_lime._**** Calcium carbonate, used in cement and a bunch of other— Ah, never mind. The point is, this ship isn't going far unless we can fix it."**

**Festus made another click-creak noise that Leo didn't recognize. It sounded like ****_AY-zuhl._**

"Hazel," Percy said.

"How did you know that?" Nick asked.

Percy said mysteriously, "I'm magical."

Brett shook his head. "No," He said. "We already deciphered that Lou is magical since she turned the Stolls into guinea pigs."

Percy nodded. "Oh right," He said.

Everyone looked at Lou, who was sleeping. _Turning the Stolls into guinea pigs must have been hard,_ Annabeth thought, _It drained her energy._

**"Oh…Hazel," he deciphered. "That's the girl with the curly hair, right?"**

**Frank gulped. "Is she okay?"**

**"Yeah, she's fine," Leo said. "According to Festus, her horse is racing along below. She's following us."**

**"We've got to land, then," Frank said.**

**Leo studied him. "She's your girlfriend?"**

"Say no!" Jared shouted. Will smirked when he read the next line.

**Frank chewed his lip. "Yes."**

"NO!" Jared wailed. Everyone decided to just ignore him.

**"You don't sound sure."**

"Because he isn't!" Jared cried.

**"Yes. Yes, definitely. I'm sure."**

Jared just gave up.

**Leo raised his hands. "Okay, fine. The problem is we can only manage one landing. The way the hull and the oars are, we won't be able to lift off again until we repair, so we'll have to make sure we land somewhere with all the right supplies."**

**Frank scratched his head. "Where do you get Celestial bronze? You can't just stock up at Home Depot."**

"That would be so cool if you could," Connor said.

Travis looked to be deep in thought. "Don't hurt yourself," Katie said, looking at Travis' thinking face. Everyone laughed at Travis.

"IDEA TIME!" Travis yelled.

"What idea?" Connor asked, getting excited.

"We should build a Home Depot at camp," Travis announced.

Connor nodded, catching along. "And stock Celestial bronze in it," He said. "It can be like a demigod Home Depot."

"Yeah!" Travis agreed. "Like 'Demigod Depot' or something." **(I know it's lame, but i could think of anything)**

"We'll get Hephaestus cabin to build it," Connor said, "and we can put things that normal demigods would need, like Celestial bronze, weapons, armor, etc. Things like that."

They both turned to Nyssa. "You know," She mused, "that doesn't sound that bad."

"And we'll pay with drachmas!" The Stolls said together.

Nyssa frowned. "And you just ruined it," She said.

"What?!" They asked together.

"We're demigods," She said, then explained, "we shouldn't be paying you Hermes cabin to get weapons and armor."

"Why not?" Travis challenged.

"If new demigods come," Nyssa said, "they won't be able to pay to get a weapon."

The Stolls sighed in defeat. "Fine," They gave in. "But we're still asking Chiron about the idea."

Nyssa shrugged. "I don't care."

The Stoll brothers high-fived, then started planing about 'Demigod Depot.'

**"Festus, do a scan."**

"He can scan for magic bronze?" Will asked.

Chris smirked as he read the next line.

**"He can scan for magic bronze?"**

"You think like Frank!" The Stolls accused, pointing their index fingers at Will.

The said boy shrugged. "Better than thinking like you," He retorted.

Jared, Brett, and Nick all yelled, "BURN!" At the same time.

Chris decided it was the best time to continue reading before the Stolls could say anything stupid.

**Frank marveled. "Is there anything he ****_can't_**** do?"**

**Leo thought:****_ You should've seen him when he had a body. _****But he didn't say that. It was too painful, remembering the way Festus used to be.**

**Leo peered over the ship's bow. The Central California valley was passing below. Leo didn't hold out much hope that they could find what they needed all in one place, but they had to try. Leo also wanted to put as much distance as possible between himself and New Rome. The ****_Argo II_**** could cover vast distances pretty quickly, thanks to its magical engine, but Leo figured the Romans had magic travel methods of their own.**

Percy and Annabeth nodded. "They do," The both of them said at the same time, then smiled at each other.

Connor and Travis looked at each other, seemingly thinking the same thing. _The Aphrodite girls always like it when they say things together,_ They both thought. _They think it's cute when couples do it, then grin at each other._

The Stoll brothers were in deep thought, they didn't even know Chris continued reading.

**Behind him, the stairs creaked. Percy and Annabeth climbed up, their faces grim.**

**Leo's heart stumbled. "Is Jason—?"**

Thalia dug her nails into Percy's hand that she was holding onto. Percy was trying not to take his hand back, Thalia had a tight grip.

**"He's resting," Annabeth said. "Piper's keeping an eye on him, but he should be fine."**

Thalia breathed out a sigh of relief, and let go of Percy's hand, which he was very thankful for.

**Percy gave him a hard look. "Annabeth says you****_ did_**** fire the ballista?"**

**"Man, I—I don't understand how it happened. I'm so sorry—"**

**_"Sorry?"_**** Percy growled.**

"Whoa, man," Brett said, eyes wide.

"You should have at least gone easy on him," Nyssa chided Percy.

The said boy nodded in agreement. "I know," He sighed. "I was just really angry at the time."

Nyssa nodded, accepting the answer.

**Annabeth put a hand on her boyfriend's chest.**

"You liked that, didn't you, Annie," Travis said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and threw her dagger at Travis. The said dagger landed in the grass, right next to his hand. Travis yelped and carefully handed her dagger back.

**"We'll figure it out later. Right now, we have to regroup and make a plan. What's the situation with the ship?"**

**Leo's legs trembled. The way Percy had looked at him made him feel the same as when Jason summoned lightning. Leo's skin tingled, and every instinct in his body screamed, ****_Duck!_**

Everyone agreed with what Leo said. "He always makes us feel like that, Leo," Connor told the book.

"Connor, you're talking to a book," Katie said.

"So?" The son of Hermes asked.

Katie just rolled her eyes, as everyone stared at Connor, then went back to the book, shaking their heads.

**He told Annabeth about the damage and the supplies they needed. At least he felt better talking about something fixable.**

**He was bemoaning the shortage of Celestial bronze when Festus began to whir and squeak.**

**"Perfect." Leo sighed with relief.**

**"What's perfect?" Annabeth said."I could use some ****_perfect_**** about now."**

**Leo managed a smile. "Everything we need in one place.**

"That is perfect," Jared said, smiling.

"No, duh!" Kylee said.

Jared huffed and crossed his arms.

**Frank, why don't you turn into a bird or something? Fly down and tell your girlfriend to meet us at the Great Salt Lake in Utah."**

**Once they got there, it wasn't a pretty landing. With the oars damaged and the foresail torn, Leo could barely manage a controlled descent. The others strapped themselves in below—except for Coach Hedge, who insisted on clinging to the forward rail, yelling, "YEAH! Bring it on, lake!"**

Everyone *cough* Stolls, Jared, Brett, Nick *cough* was laughing at what Hedge said...or yelled? And Grover was shaking his head, muttering, "Oh, Gleeson."

**Leo stood astern, alone at the helm, and aimed as best he could.**

**Festus creaked and whirred warning signals, which were relayed through the intercom to the quarterdeck.**

**"I know, I know," Leo said, gritting his teeth.**

"What?" Brett asked.

**He didn't have much time to take in the scenery. To the southeast, a city was nestled in the foothills of a mountain range, blue and purple in the afternoon shadows. A flat desert landscape spread to the south. Directly beneath them the Great Salt Lake glittered like aluminum foil, the shoreline etched with white salt marshes that reminded Leo of aerial photos of Mars.**

"Why would he compare the lake to Mars?" Percy asked. "Mars is a jerk, just like Ares." Thunder rumbled.

"Hey, that's my dad!" Clarisse protested.

"I know," Percy said.

Annabeth looked at Percy. "Did you offend Mars?" She asked.

"Yes," Percy mumbled.

"Percy!" Annabeth exclaimed, hitting his arm.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault I was trying to remember something!" Percy defended.

"Whatever," Annabeth grumbled. "Oh, and Percy?" The said boy looked at her. "He was comparing it to the planet Mars!"

"Oh," Percy said. "That makes sense."

"You are _such_ a seaweed brain," She said.

Percy grinned. "But I'm _your_ Seaweed Brain!" Then they kissed.

"PDA!" Connor shouted, covering his eyes.

Everyone laughed as the couple blushed.

**"Hang on, Coach!" he shouted. "This is going to hurt."**

**"I was ****_born_**** for hurt!"**

Everyone was laughing while Grover was shacking his head, muttering, "Oh, Gleeson."

**_WHOOM!_**** A swell of salt water washed over the bow, dousing Coach Hedge. The ****_Argo II_**** listed dangerously to starboard, then righted itself and rocked on the surface of the lake. Machinery hummed as the aerial blades that were still working changed to nautical form.**

**Three banks of robotic oars dipped into the water and began moving them forward.**

**"Good job, Festus," Leo said. "Take us toward the south shore."**

**"Yeah!" Coach Hedge pumped his fists in the air. He was drenched from his horns to hooves, but grinning like a crazy goat. "Do it again!"**

"Well that's what I call crazy," Brett said, "anyone with me?" Everyone raised their hands. Gleeson sure can be a handful.

**"Uh…maybe later," Leo said. "Just stay above deck, okay? You can keep watch, in case—you know, the lake decides to attack us or something."**

"With your guys' luck," Thalia stated, "it might."

"Thanks, Thalia," Percy said sarcastically. "We totally needed to you say that."

Thalia smiled cheekily at him, and replied with a, "You welcome."

**"On it," Hedge promised.**

**Leo rang the ****_All clear_**** bell and headed for the stairs. Before he got there, a loud ****_clump-clump-clump _****shook the hull. A tan stallion appeared on deck with Hazel Levesque on his back.**

**"How—?" Leo's question died in his throat. "We're in the middle of a lake! Can that thing fly?"**

**The horse whinnied angrily.**

"Probably cussing Leo out right there," Percy said. "That horse needs its mouth cleaned out with soap."

The immature ones *cough* Stolls, Jared, Brett, Nick *cough* started laughing.

**"Arion can't fly," Hazel said. "But he can run across just about anything. Water, vertical surfaces, small mountains—none of that bothers him."**

**"Oh."**

**Hazel was looking at him strangely, the way she had during the feast in the forum—like she was **  
**searching for something in his face. He was tempted to ask if they had met before, but he was sure they hadn't. He would remember a pretty girl paying such close attention to him. That didn't happen a lot**.

"She onely payed attention to him for a reason," Percy said sadly.

"Why?" Malcolm asked.

"You'll see," Percy grinned at him.

Malcolm groaned. "I hate those words!"

**_She's Frank's girlfriend,_**** he reminded himself.**

"Which is ridiculous," Jared muttered.

**Frank was still below, but Leo almost wished the big guy would come up the stairs. The way Hazel was studying Leo made him feel uneasy and self-conscious.**

**Coach Hedge crept forward with his baseball bat, eyeing the magic horse suspiciously. "Valdez, does this count as an invasion?"**

"Yes," Percy answered immediately.

Chris looked up from the book. "It says 'no,' dude," He said.

Percy just grumbled in response, as a few chuckled or full-out laughed.

**"No!" Leo said. "Um, Hazel, you'd better come with me. I built a stable belowdecks, if Arion wants to—"**

**"He's more of a free spirit."**

"You're right about that," Percy grumbled.

**Hazel slipped out of the saddle. "He'll graze around the lake until I call him. But I want to see the ship. Lead the way."**

**The****_ Argo II_**** was designed like an ancient trireme, only twice as big. The first deck had one central corridor with crew cabins on either side. On a normal trireme, most of the space would've been taken up with three rows of benches for a few hundred sweaty guys to do the manual labor, but Leo's oars were automated and retractable, so they took up very little room inside the hull. The ship's power came from the engine room on the second and lowest deck, which also housed sickbay, storage, and the stables.**

Percy and Annbaeth blushed at the mention of the stables.

(Wonder why :))

**Leo led the way down the hall. He'd built the ship with eight cabins—seven for the demigods of the prophecy, and a room for Coach Hedge (Seriously—Chiron considered him a responsible adult chaperone?). At the stern was a large mess hall/lounge, which was where Leo headed.**

**On the way, they passed Jason's room. The door was open. Piper sat at the side of his berth, holding Jason's hand while he snored with an ice pack on his head.**

**Piper glanced at Leo. She held a finger to her lips for quiet, but she didn't look angry. That was something. Leo tried to force down his guilt,**

"Why guilt?" Nyssa asked.

Percy and Annabeth sighed. "He thought it was his fault that Jason got hurt," Annabeth answered.

"But it wasn't," Percy added.

"Why would he thing that?" Will asked.

"Because when he fired the ballista, and the Romans attacked," Annabeth said, "he thought it was his fault that Jason got hurt."

"But it wasn't," Percy repeated. Everyone nodded.

**and they kept walking. When they reached the mess hall, they found the others—Percy, Annabeth, and Frank—sitting dejectedly around the dining table.**

**Leo had made the lounge as nice as possible, since he figured they'd be spending a lot of time there. The cupboard was lined with magic cups and plates from Camp Half-Blood, which would fill up with whatever food or drink you wanted on command. There was also a magical ice chest with canned drinks, perfect for picnics ashore. The chairs were cushy recliners with thousand-finger massage, built-in headphones, and sword and drink holders for all your demigod kicking-back needs.**

The Stolls' mouths were open and their eyes were wide. "I want those chairs!" They cried.

Everyone either ignored them, or rolled their eyes.

**There were no windows, but the walls were enchanted to show real-time footage from Camp HalfBlood—the beach, the forest, the strawberry fields—although now Leo was wondering if this made people homesick rather than happy.**

"Both," Percy and Annabeth said together.

**Percy was staring longingly at a sunset view of Half-Blood Hill, where the Golden Fleece glittered in the branches of the tall pine tree.**

"That's one of my favorite spots to be," Percy said.

"Same," Annabeth, Thalia, and Grover chorused.

**"So we've landed," Percy said. "What now?"**

**Frank plucked on his bowstring. "Figure out the prophecy? I mean…that was a prophecy Ella spoke, right? From the Sibylline Books?"**

**"The what?" Leo asked.**

**Frank explained how their harpy friend was freakishly good at memorizing books.**

"She can read like seven or eight books at once," Percy said.

"Whoa," Some said in amazement.

**At some point in the past, she'd inhaled a collection of ancient prophecies that had supposedly been destroyed around the fall of Rome.**

**"That's why you didn't tell the Romans," Leo guessed. "You didn't want them to get hold of her."**

**Percy kept staring at the image of Half-Blood Hill. "Ella's sensitive. She was a captive when we found her. I just didn't want…" He made a fist. "It doesn't matter now. I sent Tyson an Iris-message, told him to take Ella to Camp Half-Blood. They'll be safe there."**

"Yeah, Ella would be safe with Rachael," Annabeth said.

**Leo doubted that ****_any_**** of them would be safe, now that he had stirred up a camp of angry Romans on top of the problems they already had with Gaea and the giants; but he kept quiet.**

**Annabeth laced her fingers. "Let me think about the prophecy—but right now we have more immediate problems. We have to get this ship fixed. Leo, what do we need?"**

"Limes," Brett said.

Everyone rolled their eyes at him.

**"The easiest thing is tar."**

"Yeah, 'tar,'" Percy said, putting air qutations around 'tar.'

"What?" Everyone, except Annabeth, asked.

"Nothing, you'll see," Percy grinned as they all groaned.

**Leo was glad to change the subject. "We can get that in the city, at a roofing-supply store or someplace like that. Also, Celestial bronze and lime. According to Festus, we can find both of those on an island in the lake, just west of here."**

**"We'll have to hurry," Hazel warned. "If I know Octavian, he's searching for us with his auguries. The Romans will send a strike force after us. It's a matter of honor."**

**Leo felt everyone's eyes on him. "Guys…I don't know what happened. Honestly, I—"**

**Annabeth raised her hand. "We've been talking. We agree it couldn't have been ****_you_****, Leo. That cold feeling you mentioned…I felt it too. It must have been some sort of magic, either Octavian or Gaea or one of her minions. But until we understand what happened—"**

**Frank grunted. "How can we be sure it won't happen again?"**

"Dose it?" Clarisse asked.

Annabeth and Percy glanced at each other. "I don't think so," Percy answered.

**Leo's fingers heated up like they were about to catch fire.**

"Don't do that," Nyssa said. "A lot of explosives are on the _Argo II_."

**One of his powers as a son of Hephaestus was that he could summon flames at will; but he had to be careful not to do so by accident, especially on a ship filled with explosives and flammable supplies.**

**"I'm fine now," he insisted, though he wished he could be sure. "Maybe we should use the buddy system. Nobody goes anywhere alone. We can leave Piper and Coach Hedge on board with Jason. Send one team into town to get tar. Another team can go after the bronze and the lime."**

**"Split up?" Percy said. "That sounds like a really bad idea."**

"It does," Thalia said, worrying a bit about her cousin, best friend, and brother.

**"It'll be quicker," Hazel put in. "Besides, there's a reason a quest is usually limited to three demigods, right?"**

**Annabeth raised her eyebrows, as if reappraising Hazel's merits. "You're right. The same reason we needed the ****_Argo II_****…outside camp, seven demigods in one place will attract way too much monstrous attention. The ship is designed to conceal and protect us. We should be safe enough on board; but if we go on expeditions, we shouldn't travel in groups larger than three. No sense alerting more of Gaea's minions than we have to."**

"She's right," Grover said.

"When is she not?" Clarisse asked, rolling her eyes.

**Percy still didn't look happy about it, but he took Annabeth's hand. "As long as you're my buddy, I'm good."**

"Aww," Some of the girls cooed.

**Hazel smiled. "Oh, that's easy. Frank, you were amazing, turning into a dragon!**

"He was amaxing," Percy said, grinning.

Everyone nodded. They had to admit, it was awesome, Frank turning into a dragon, or anything, really

**Could you do it again to fly Annabeth and Percy into town for the tar?"**

**Frank opened his mouth like he wanted to protest. "I…I suppose. But what about you?"**

**"I'll ride Arion with Sa—with Leo, here." She fidgeted with her sword hilt, which made Leo uneasy. She had even more nervous energy than ****_he_**** did.**

"Does she?" Nyssa asked, a little worried.

"No, she was just worried at the time," Percy said.

**"We'll get the bronze and the lime. We can all meet back here by dark."**

**Frank scowled. Obviously, he didn't like the idea of Leo going off with Hazel. For some reason, Frank's disapproval made Leo want to go. He ****_had_**** to prove he was trustworthy. He wasn't going to fire any random ballistae again.**

**"Leo," said Annabeth, "if we get the supplies, how long to fix the ship?"**

**"With luck, just a few hours."**

**"Fine," she decided. "We'll meet you back here as soon as possible, but stay safe. We could use some good luck. That doesn't mean we'll get it."**

"That's so true," Connor said.

Chris closed the book. "That's it," He said, then asked, "Who wants to read?"

"But I'm tired!" Travis whined.

"How about we go to be after the next chapter?" Annabeth suggested. Everyone agreed, and Katie volunteered to read. Chris handed her the book, and she opened it up to the right chapter.

* * *

**Okay cupcakes, that's all! Hopefully you liked the chapter I'll try to get the next one up soon, but I"m still busy. And hopefully you guys aren't angry at me for the long update. Anyway, love you all. R&R!**

**Nick**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey cupcakes! Thanks for awesome reviews and favs and follows and stuff! Just to answer a few questions. I know you want me to bring in the rest of the 7 and for the Stolls to spill the beans. I will do that! Next chapter, when they are taking a brake. I'm pretty sure I said that last chapter, but i don't know.**

**I bet you guys hate me for not updating, I've been really busy. And I just got back from vacation and going on another one tomorrow, so I'm sorry for the long update. I've been really busy. But since you guys have been really patient and not yelling at me to update, have some cookies for being amazing (::) (::) (::) (there Sally's blue cookies)**

**Anyway, here's chapter 8**

**Disclaimer: i do not own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

* * *

Katie started to read when she got to the right page.

**VI Leo**

"Yes!" The Stolls yelled. "More blackmail!"

Everyone either ignored them or rolled their eyes.

**RIDING ARION WAS THE BEST THING that had happened to Leo all day—which wasn't saying much, since his day had sucked. The horse's hooves turned the surface of the lake to salty mist. Leo put his hand against the horse's side and felt the muscles working like a well-oiled machine. For the first time, he understood why car engines were measured in horsepower. Arion was a four-legged Maserati.**

"Wow," Everyone, except Percy and Annabeth, said.

"Yeah," Percy agreed, "a cool, but dirty horse."

**Ahead of them lay an island—a line of sand so white, it might have been pure table salt. Behind that rose an expanse of grassy dunes and weathered boulders.**

**Leo sat behind Hazel, one arm around her waist.**

"Oh, Hazel, you bad girl," Connor scolded.

"Letting Leo put one arm around your waist," Travis chided.

"You idiots!" Clarisse smacked them upside the head, making him shut up.

**The close contact made him a little uncomfortable, but it was the only way he could stay on board (or whatever you called it with a horse).**

**Before they left, Percy had pulled him aside to tell him Hazel's story. Percy made it sound like he was just doing Leo a favor, but there'd been an undertone like ****_If you mess with my friend, I will _**_**personally feed you to a great white shark.**_

"You could've gone easy on him!" Nyssa complained.

"Sorry," Percy apologized, "it's just, I didn't know him at the time and I was still very angry about the New Rome incident."

"Fine," Nyssa said.

**According to Percy, Hazel was a daughter of Pluto. She'd died in the 1940s and been brought back to life only a few months ago.**

"What?" Jared asked. "You sounds very much alive to me."

"She is alive!" Percy growled at him.

Jared, wisely, didn't say anything after that.

**Leo found that hard to believe. Hazel seemed warm and very alive, not like the ghosts or the other reborn mortals Leo had tangled with.**

"That's because she is alive!" Percy snapped.

Annabeth rubbed his arm soothingly. She knew how protective Percy is over Hazel.

**She seemed good with people, too, unlike Leo, who was much more comfortable with machines. Living stuff, like horses and girls? He had no idea what made them work.**

Nyssa shrugged. "It's a Hephaestus thing," She said.

"So you're not good with people?" Will asked, sounding a little hurt.

Nyssa shook her head. "No, I'm good with people," She said, and Will looked happy again. "It's just some of my brothers that aren't. Like Leo and Jake."

Everyone, since they had their attention on her, nodded.

**Hazel was also Frank's girlfriend, so Leo knew he should keep his distance. Still, her hair smelled good, and riding with her made his heart race almost against his will.**

Jared looked like he wanted Hazel even more than before.

**It must've been the speed of the horse.**

Travis snorted.

"Yeah, the speed of the horse," Connor said sarcastically.

**Arion thundered onto the beach. He stomped his hooves and whinnied triumphantly, like Coach Hedge yelling a battle cry.**

"Yeah, right," Percy scoffed. "Hedge's battle cry is, 'DIE!'"

Everyone was laughing as Percy did an imitation of Coach Hedge.

**Hazel and Leo dismounted. Arion pawed the sand.**

**"He needs to eat," Hazel explained. "He likes gold, but—"**

"Gold?" Everyone, except Percy and Annabeth, asked.

Percy and Annabeth nodded. "Yeah, gold," Annabeth said, smiling at everyone's confused faces.

**"Gold?" Leo asked.**

**"He'll settle for grass. Go on, Arion. Thanks for the ride. I'll call you."**

**Just like that, the horse was gone—nothing left but a steaming trail across the lake.**

**"Fast horse," Leo said, "and expensive to feed."**

Everyone, par Annabeth and Percy, agreed with what Leo said.

**"Not really," Hazel said. "Gold is easy for me."**

"How is gold easy for her?" Thalia asked.

"You'll see," Annabeth said, grinning at Thalia, who groaned.

**Leo raised his eyebrows. "How is gold easy? Please tell me you're not related to King Midas. I don't like that guy."**

"Of course she's not!" Percy snapped at the book. No one even bothered to tell him he was talking to a book.

**Hazel pursed her lips, as if she regretted raising the subject. "Never mind."**

**That made Leo even more curious, but he decided it might be better not to press her.**

"Good," Percy grumbled.

**He knelt and cupped a handful of white sand. "Well…one problem solved, anyway. This is lime."**

**Hazel frowned. "The whole beach?"**

**"Yeah. See? The granules are perfectly round. It's not really sand. It's calcium carbonate."**

"NO, LEO!" The Stolls shouted together.

"What?" Everyone asked.

"He's turning into Annabeth and Malcolm!" They wailed.

Everyone laughed, while the said two Athena kids rolled their eyes.

**Leo pulled a Ziploc bag from his tool belt and dug his hand into the lime.**

**Suddenly he froze. He remembered all the times the earth goddess Gaea had appeared to him in the ground—her sleeping face made of dust or sand or dirt. She loved to taunt him.**

"She loves to taunt everybody," Thalia grumbled. Everyone agreed with her.

**He imagined her closed eyes and her dreaming smile swirling in the white calcium.**

**_Walk away, little hero,_**** Gaea said.****_ Without you, the ship cannot be fixed._**

Everyone subconsciously shivered about Gaea.

Travis and Connor were watching Percy and Annabeth carefully. They both knew they would have to tell everyone where they came from. Part of them didn't want to tell everyone else, but they knew it was the right thing to do. They both looked at each other, sending the other a silent message: _Later._

**"Leo?" Hazel asked. "You okay?"**

**He took a shaky breath. Gaea wasn't here. He was just freaking himself out.**

**"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, fine."**

"LIES!" Brett yelled. Everyone stared at him. "I-I mean, h-he's l-lying."

**He started to fill the bag.**

**Hazel knelt next to him and helped. "We should've brought a pail and shovels."**

**The idea cheered Leo up. He even smiled. "We could've made a sand castle."**

**"A lime castle."**

**Their eyes locked for a second too long.**

"NO!" Jared shouted. "Don't fall in love!"

"Dude, give it up," Chris said, patting his shoulder. "She's never going to like you."

"How do you know?" Jared asked.

Chris shook his head but answered anyway. "Man, she has a boyfriend," He said, "and she doesn't even know you or know you exist."

Jared stared at him. "You never know," He said.

Chris threw his hands up in the air. "I give up!" He said, shaking his head. Everyone laughed at him.

**Hazel looked away. "You are ****_so_**** much like—"**

**"Sammy?" Leo guessed.**

**She fell backward. "You know?"**

**"I have no idea who Sammy is. But Frank asked me if I was sure that wasn't my name."**

**"And…it isn't?"**

**"No! Jeez."**

**"You don't have a twin brother or…" Hazel stopped. "Is your family from New Orleans?"**

**"Nah. Houston. Why? Is Sammy a guy you used to know?"**

**"I…It's nothing. You just look like him."**

**Leo could tell she was too embarrassed to say more. But if Hazel was a kid from the past, did that mean Sammy was from the 1940s? If so, how could Frank know the guy? And why would Hazel think Leo was Sammy, all these decades later?**

"Yes, why?" Malcolm muttered to himself, trying to figure everything out.

**They finished filling the bag in silence. Leo stuffed it in his tool belt and the bag vanished—no weight, no mass, no volume—though Leo knew it would be there as soon as he reached for it. Anything that could fit into the pockets, Leo could tote around. He ****_loved_**** his tool belt. He just wished the pockets were large enough for a chain saw, or maybe a bazooka.**

"Yeah, bazookas," Connor said, smiling mischievously.

"I don't even want to know what you're thinking about," Katie said. Everyone agreed with her, while Connor pouted.

**He stood and scanned the island—bleach-white dunes, blankets of grass, and boulders encrusted with salt like frosting. "Festus said there was Celestial bronze close by, but I'm not sure where—"**

**"That way." Hazel pointed up the beach. "About five hundred yards."**

**"How do you—?"**

**"Precious metals," Hazel said. "It's a Pluto thing."**

**Leo remembered what she'd said about gold being easy. "Handy talent. Lead the way, Miss Metal Detector."**

"'Miss Metal Detector,'" Percy snorted. "How does he come up with all of these nicknames?"

Everyone looked at Nyssa, who had her hands up. "I don't know," She said. Everyone shrugged and turned back to the book.

**The sun began to set. The sky turned a bizarre mix of purple and yellow. In another reality, Leo might've enjoyed a walk on the beach with a pretty girl, but the farther they went, the edgier he felt. Finally Hazel turned inland.**

**"You sure this is a good idea?" he asked.**

**"We're close," she promised. "Come on."**

**Just over the dunes, they saw the woman.**

"What woman?" Nick asked. Everyone (except Percy and Annabeth) shrugged, not knowing.

**She sat on a boulder in the middle of a grassy field. A black-and-chrome motorcycle was parked nearby, but each of the wheels had a big pie slice removed from the spokes and rim, so that they resembled Pac-Men.**

Brett's eyes widened. "Mom?" He said in disbelief. He was really disappointing that his mom showed up for Leo and Hazel, but never when he prayed for her or asked her for guidance. Sometimes he just wishes he could meet her in person, but hearing that someone else did, and it wasn't him, made him feel like he was worth nothing to her.

He got pulled our of his thought's by everyone's voices. "What?" Everyone asked.

"That's my mom's symbol," He said. "A broken wheel."

"And you mom is...?" Percy asked.

"Nemesis," Brett answered.

"Well this sin't going to end well," Connor said.

"No duh!" Clarisse smacked him over he head.

**No way was the bike drivable in that condition.**

**The woman had curly black hair and a bony frame. She wore black leather biker's pants, tall leather boots, and a bloodred leather jacket—sort of a ****_Michael Jackson joins the Hell's Angels_**** look. Around her feet, the ground was littered with what looked like broken shells. She was hunched over, pulling new ones out of a sack and cracking them open. Shucking oysters?**

"Now why would my mom shuck oysters?" Brett asked. "I don't even think oysters are in the Great Salt Lake."

"There aren't," Percy answered.

"Of course you wold know that, Kelp Head," Thalia said, rolling her eyes and smirking at Percy, who stuck his tongue out at her.

**Leo wasn't sure if there were oysters in the Great Salt Lake. He didn't think so.**

**He wasn't anxious to approach. He'd had bad experiences with strange ladies. His old babysitter, Tía Callida, had turned out to be Hera and had a nasty habit of putting him down for naps in a blazing fireplace. The earth goddess Gaea had killed his mother in a workshop fire when Leo was eight. The snow goddess Khione had tried to turn him into a frozen dairy treat in Sonoma.**

"Stupid goddess," Thalia grumbled. "Turned me into solid ice."

Everyone gasped. "Really?" Annabeth asked.

Thalia nodded. "And most of my hunters."

"I wonder if she's hot?" Nick wondered. Everyone stared at him.

"She's obviously not," Kylee said. "She's cold." She smirked at him.

"That's not what I meant!" He protested.

Kylee rolled her eyes as everyone went back tot he book.

**But Hazel forged ahead, so he didn't have much choice except to follow.**

**As they got closer, Leo noticed disturbing details. Attached to the woman's belt was a curled whip. Her red-leather jacket had a subtle design to it—twisted branches of an apple tree populated with skeletal birds. The oysters she was shucking were actually fortune cookies.**

"That's just weird," Nick said. Brett glared at him half-heartedly, still thinking about his thoughts from earlier.

**A pile of broken cookies lay ankle-deep all around her. She kept pulling new ones from her sack, cracking them open, and reading the fortunes. Most she tossed aside. A few made her mutter unhappily. She would swipe her finger over the slip of paper like she was smudging it, then magically reseal the cookie and toss it into a nearby basket.**

"What is she doing?" Thalia asked. Katie smirked as she read the next line.

**"What are you doing?" Leo asked before he could stop himself.**

"NO!" Thalia shrieked. "I think like Leo! I'm going to die!" Thalia, being her dramatic self, fell the ground and laid motionless on the ground. She stuck her tongue out and closed her eyes. "I'm dead," She muttered.

Everyone laughed as Thalia got up and grinned.

**The woman looked up. Leo's lungs filled so fast, he thought they might burst.**

**"Aunt Rosa?" he asked.**

"What?" Everyone (par Percy and Annabeth) asked.

**It didn't make sense, but this woman looked****_ exactly_**** like his aunt. She had the same broad nose with a mole on one side,**

"Ew," A few people said, wrinkling their noses.

**the same sour mouth and hard eyes. But it couldn't be Rosa. She would never wear clothes like that, and she was still down in Houston, as far as Leo knew. She wouldn't be cracking open fortune cookies in the middle of the Great Salt Lake.**

Everyone (except the couple) looked confused about how Leo thought it was his aunt.

**"Is that what you see?" the woman asked. "Interesting. And you, Hazel, dear?"**

**"How did you—?" Hazel stepped back in alarm. "You—you look like Mrs. Leer. My third grade teacher. I hated you."**

**The woman cackled. "Excellent. You resented her, eh? She judged you unfairly?"**

**"You—she taped my hands to the desk for misbehaving,"**

"How are you supposed to escape class if you hands are taped!" Connor exclaimed.

Travis shook his head sadly. "That's outrages," He said. Connor nodded in agreement.

**Hazel said. "She called my mother a witch. She blamed me for everything I didn't do and— No. She ****_has_**** to be dead. Who****_ are_**** you?"**

**"Oh, Leo knows," the woman said. "How do you feel about Aunt Rosa, ****_mijo?"_**

**_Mijo._**** That's what Leo's mom had always called him. After his mom died, Rosa had rejected Leo. She'd called him a devil child. She'd blamed him for the fire that had killed her sister. Rosa had turned his family against him and left him—a scrawny orphaned eight-year-old—at the mercy of social services. Leo had bounced around from foster home to foster home until he'd finally found a home at Camp Half-Blood.**

"His aunt has a problem," Nick commented. Everyone nodded in agreement.

**Leo didn't hate many people, but after all these years, Aunt Rosa's face made him boil with resentment.**

**How did he feel? He wanted to get even. He wanted revenge.**

Brett sighed. "That's mom's power," He explained, "making people want revenge. Kind of like Ares, or Hades."

Clarisse nodded. "Dad makes people boil with anger," She said, looking pointedly at Percy, who rolled his eyes at her.

**His eyes drifted to the motorcycle with the Pac-Man wheels. Where had he seen something like that before? Cabin 16, back at Camp Half-Blood—the symbol above their door was a broken wheel.**

**"Nemesis," he said. "You're the goddess of revenge."**

**"You see?" The goddess smiled at Hazel. "He recognizes me."**

**Nemesis cracked another cookie and wrinkled her nose. ****_"You will have great fortune when you least expect it,"_**** she read. "That's exactly the sort of nonsense I hate. Someone opens a cookie, and suddenly they have a prophecy that they'll be rich! I blame that tramp Tyche. Always dispensing good luck to people who don't deserve it!"**

"Dude, your mom is crazy," Jared said to Brett. "Those aren't even real prophecies."

Brett sighed. "Mom is crazy," He agreed.

**Leo looked at the mound of broken cookies. "Uh…you know those aren't real prophecies, right? They're just stuffed in the cookies at some factory—"**

**"Don't try to excuse it!" Nemesis snapped. "It's just like Tyche to get people's hopes up. No, no. I ****_must_**** counter her." Nemesis flicked a finger over the slip of paper, and the letters changed to red. ****_"You will die painfully when you most expect it._**** There! Much better."**

"That's horrible," Annabeth said. "She's really going to let someone read that, and it'll come true?" Everyone shrugged, not knowing the answer.

**"That's horrible!" Hazel said. "You'd let someone read that in their fortune cookie, and it would come true?"**

**Nemesis sneered. It really was creepy, seeing that expression on Aunt Rosa's face. "My dear Hazel, haven't you ever wished horrible things on Mrs. Leer for the way she treated you?"**

**"That doesn't mean I'd want them to come true!"**

**"Bah." The goddess resealed the cookie and tossed it in her basket. "Tyche would be Fortuna for you, I suppose, being Roman. Like the others, she's in a horrible way right now. Me? I'm not affected. I am called Nemesis in both Greek and Roman. I do not change, because revenge is universal."**

"Like Apollo," Will said proudly.

"What about Apollo?" Kylee asked.

"Apollo is the same in both Greek and Roman," Will answered. "Because-"

"I don't care!" Nick interrupted him.

**"What are you talking about?" Leo asked. "What are you doing here?"**

"Those are excellent questions, Leo," Travis mused, pretending to stroke an imaginary beard.

**Nemesis opened another cookie. "Lucky numbers. Ridiculous! That's not even a proper fortune!" She crushed the cookie and scattered the pieces around her feet.**

**"To answer your question, Leo Valdez, the gods are in terrible shape. It always happens when a civil war is brewing between you Romans and Greeks. The Olympians are torn between their two natures, called on by both sides. They become quite schizophrenic, I'm afraid. Splitting headaches. Disorientation."**

**"But we're not at war," Leo insisted.**

"Really Leo?" Nyssa shook her head. She knew her brother could be an idiot at times, but really? Even the Stolls knew that!

"Hey!" The Stolls protested. Nyssa realize she spoke out loud and blushed.

**"Um, Leo…" Hazel winced. "Except for the fact that you recently blew up large sections of New Rome."**

**Leo stared at her, wondering whose side she was on. "Not on purpose!"**

**"I know…" Hazel said, "but the Romans don't realize that. And they'll be pursuing us in retaliation."**

**Nemesis cackled. "Leo, listen to the girl. War is coming. Gaea has seen to it, with your help. And can you guess whom the gods blame for their predicament?"**

**Leo's mouth tasted like calcium carbonate. "Me."**

**The goddess snorted. "Well, don't ****_you_**** have a high opinion of yourself.**

"What the Hades!" Nyssa protested. "She just made it sound like the gods blame him and then just says it's not him!"

"Nyssa, calm down," Will said soothingly, hugging her to him. Nyssa has been really snappy since Leo and the others left on the_ Argo II_. She kept second-guessing the ship and the Romans, but Will was the only one who could get her to calm down enough.

Nyssa nodded and leaned back into Will, motioning for Katie to continue.

**You're just a pawn on the chessboard, Leo Valdez. I was referring to the player who set this ridiculous quest in motion, bringing the Greeks and Romans together. The gods blame Hera—or Juno, if you prefer! The queen of the heavens has fled Olympus to escape the wrath of her family. Don't expect any more help from your patron!"**

**Leo's head throbbed. He had mixed feelings about Hera. She'd meddled in his life since he was a baby, molding him to serve her purpose in this big prophecy, but at least she had been on their side, more or less. If she was out of the picture now…**

**"So why are you here?" he asked.**

**"Why, to offer ****_my_**** help!" Nemesis smiled wickedly.**

"Her help?" was muttered from the assembled demigods (par Percy and Annabeth).

**Leo glanced at Hazel. She looked like she'd just been offered a free snake.**

"Hey!" the Hermes kids protested. "Snakes are cool!" Everyone rolled their eyes at them.

**"Your help," Leo said.**

**"Of course!" said the goddess. "I enjoy tearing down the proud and powerful, and there are none who deserve tearing down like Gaea and her giants.**

"I agree with you," the Stoll brothers chorused together. They looked at each other. "Stop that," they said together and glared at each other. "I said stop!" they yelled, still glaring. "Dude, stop repeating me!" By then, they stopped talking and crossed their arms over their chests, looking away from the other. Everyone was laughing at them.

**Still, I must warn you that I will not suffer undeserved success. Good luck is a sham. The wheel of fortune is a Ponzi scheme. True success requires sacrifice."**

**"Sacrifice?" Hazel's voice was tight. "I lost my mother. I died and came back. Now my brother is missing.**

Thalia gripped the couch-arm-rest-thing so hard, her knuckles turned white. She hated hearing that Nico was missing, just like she hated hearing when Percy was missing. She was ripped out of her thoughts when Katie continued reading.

**Isn't that enough sacrifice for you?"**

**Leo could totally relate. He wanted to scream that he'd lost his mom too. His whole life had been one misery after another. He'd lost his dragon, Festus. He'd nearly killed himself trying to finish the ****_Argo II_****. Now he'd fired on the Roman camp, most likely started a war, and maybe lost the trust of his friends.**

"He didn't lose our trust!" Annabeth protested.

"Yes, but can you blame him?" Nyssa asked. "Leo thought you didn't trust him when you asked Frank to watch him, Annabeth. And he felt like Jason and Piper didn't trust him because he fired on New Rome, especially Jason, since that's his home."

Annabeth and Percy looked down, they didn't know Leo thought that after the firing. _At least we trust Leo now,_ they thought,_ he, along with the rest of the seven, is saving them._

The Stoll brothers looked at Percy and Annabeth, thinking along the same lines as them. It's been eating Travis and Connor alive that they couldn't say anything while they were with them. They got pulled out of their thought when Katie continued reading.

**"Right now," he said, trying to control his anger, "all I want is some Celestial bronze."**

**"Oh, that's easy," Nemesis said. "It's just over the rise. You'll find it with the sweethearts."**

"Sweethearts?" Chris asked, confused, along with everyone (save Percy and Annabeth) else.

**"Wait," Hazel said. "What sweethearts?"**

**Nemesis popped a cookie in her mouth and swallowed it, fortune and all. "You'll see. Perhaps they will teach you a lesson, Hazel Levesque. Most heroes cannot escape their nature, even when given a second chance at life." She smiled. "And speaking of your brother Nico, you don't have much time. Let's see…it's June twenty-fifth? Yes, after today, six more days. Then he dies, along with the entire city of Rome."**

"WHAT?!" Everyone (par the couple) shrieked. Thalia was hyperventilating about Nico dieing, she couldn't lose another family member. The Stolls were confused beyond belief. They kept thinking back to how Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus, but how did they fall into that hellhole without saving Rome? It didn't make sense to them.

Everyone was thinking about what Nemesis said, until Katie took a deep breath and continued reading in a shaky voice.

**Hazel's eyes widened. "How…what—?"**

**"And as for ****_you_****, child of fire." She turned to Leo. "Your worst hardships are yet to come. You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel. You will not find a place among your brethren.**

Nyssa looked like she was close to tears. _If only Leo would socialize more,_ she thought, _he wouldn't be in Bunker 9 all the time._ Will pulled Nyssa closer to him, rubbing soothing circles in her back.

Percy and Annabeth were in deep thought. They were thinking about how they could get Leo to socialize more, you know, after the Giant War.

**Soon you will face a problem you cannot solve, though I could help you…for a price."**

"What problem?" some asked, while others asked, "What price?"

**Leo smelled smoke. He realized fingers on his left hand were ablaze, and Hazel was staring at him in terror.**

**He shoved his hand in his pocket to extinguish the flames. "I like to solve my own problems."**

**"Very well." Nemesis brushed cookie dust off her jacket.**

**"But, um, what sort of price are we talking about?"**

**The goddess shrugged. "One of my children recently traded an eye for the ability to make a real difference in the world."**

"Ethan," Percy muttered, looking down. Annabeth heard him and grabbed his hand, rubbing circles on hi palm with her thumb.

**Leo's stomach churned. "You…want an eye?"**

**"In your case, perhaps another sacrifice would do. But something just as painful. Here." She handed him an unbroken fortune cookie. "If you need an answer, break this. It will solve your problem."**

**Leo's hand trembled as he held the fortune cookie. "What problem?"**

**"You'll know when the time comes."**

"Of course they don't give him a straight answer," Clarisse said.

"Gods never give us straight answers, Clarisse," Katie said, before reading again.

**"No, thanks," Leo said firmly. But his hand, as though it had a will of its own, slipped the cookie into his tool belt.**

**Nemesis picked another cookie from her bag and cracked it open. ****_"You will have cause to reconsider your choices soon._**** Oh, I like that one. No changes needed here."**

**She resealed the cookie and tossed it into the basket. "Very few gods will be able to help you on the quest. Most are already incapacitated, and their confusion will only grow worse. One thing might bring unity to Olympus again—an old wrong finally avenged. Ah, that would be sweet indeed, the scales finally balanced! But it will not happen unless you accept my help."**

**"I suppose you won't tell us what you're talking about," Hazel muttered. "Or why my brother Nico has only six days to live. Or why Rome is going to be destroyed."**

"Of course not," Malcolm muttered. He was thinking hard about this, just like every other Athena kid would.

**Nemesis chuckled. She rose and slung her sack of cookies over her shoulder. "Oh, it's all tied together, Hazel Levesque. As for my offer, Leo Valdez, give it some thought. You're a good child. A hard worker. We could do business. But I have detained you too long. You should visit the reflecting pool before the light fades. My poor cursed boy gets quite…agitated when the darkness comes."**

"Curse boy?" Kylee asked.

**Leo didn't like the sound of that, but the goddess climbed on her motorcycle. Apparently, it ****_was_**** drivable, despite those Pac-Man–shaped wheels, because Nemesis revved her engine and disappeared in a mushroom cloud of black smoke.**

**Hazel bent down. All the broken cookies and fortunes had disappeared except for one crumpled slip of paper. She picked it up and read, ****_"You will see yourself reflected, and you will have reason to _**_**despair."**_

"Isn't that nice," Brett said with fake happiness.

**"Fantastic," Leo grumbled. "Let's go see what that means."**

Katie closed the book. "Okay, that's all."

"Let's go to bed," Connor immediately said after Katie finished talking.

Everyone muttered agreements. But before anyone could say anything, screaming was heard from the sky. They looked up to see...

* * *

**Sorry guys! For the cliffhanger and for not updating in so long! And sorry if some of the characters are OOC. But hopefully you guys liked the chapter. I'll try my best to update around this week, but if I don't, don't go bagging on me okay? Okay. Good. Anyway hoped you like it!**

**Until next time cupcakes! R&R**

**Nic**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey cupcakes! I'm so so so sorry about not updating! I was on vacation last week and just got back. So I'm sorry, but at least I have a new chapter up! So you can read now! Yay!**

**Anyway hope you like this one. And sorry if any of the characters are OOC.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO of HoO, Rick Riordan does.**

**Chapter 9**

**Connor's POV (didn't expect that huh? I had to use one Stoll's POV for what they know and since I used Travis last time, I'm using Connor now)**

* * *

When I looked up, I immediately wished I didn't. Why? Because a girl fell on me! She had coco bean colored skin, curly brown hair, and golden eyes. Not Kronos gold, but warm gold, kind of like Hestia's if you think about it. I realized that when she fell on top of me, she was _literally_ on top of me and I was on the bottom.

"Oh, I'm sorry," She apologized, blushing when she saw our position. No doubt my fave was the same color.

"It's fine," I said while she got off me and helped me up once she was standing.

I was about to say something else, when a girl screamed, "Percy, Annabeth!" ran over and hugged the couple. I recognized the girl to be Piper, daughter of Aphrodite. And when I looked around, I realized that the rest of the seven, plus Nico, were the ones who have fallen. They all ran over and hugged Percy and Annabeth after Piper screamed. As did the girl who fell on me, who I recognized as Hazel from the book.

Everyone, but Travis and I, were still confused about where Percy and Annabeth came from. We didn't tell them yet, that's why we wanted to call a break fast, and because we were tired.

Leo was the first to pull back. "Guys, I a-am so-"

"No, Leo," Percy interrupted him. "It wasn't your fault and it never will be."

He looked like he was about to say something else, when Annabeth cut him off, "Leo, if you say anything else about it being your fault, I will gut you like a fish."

Leo, wisely, shut up. Thalia ran up and enveloped Jason in a hug. "Gods, sis, you obviously missed me," Jason laughed.

Thalia pulled back and punched him in the arm. "Of course, J," She said.

As everyone was talking and explaining, Travis and I pulled Leo aside to the edge of the clearing. "Hey, guys, what's up!" Leo asked, seeming very excited, but there was sadness in his eyes.

"Not the time Leo," I said coldly.

Leo got a confused look on his face. "Are you guys okay?" He asked. "You have serious faces on, which is never good."

Travis said, "Leo, we know."

"Know what?" Leo asked, but his voice was quivering.

"Where Annabeth and Percy came from," I said. "We were eavesdropping on them and we heard that they come from..._Tartarus_." I whispered the last part.

Leo looked like he wanted to die. "Have you told the others?" He asked.

We shook out heads. "We wanted to last break," Travis said, "but Percy and Annabeth came back from their conversation, so we couldn't."

"So what?" Leo questioned. "How are you going to break this to everyone?"

"Um...well," I stammered. "I don't know. I mean, you can't just go up to everyone and say, _Hey everyone! Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus and might never come back! Isn't that great? _Yeah, I can see that going well."

Travis turned to me. "Bro, we were actually planning on saying that," Travis said, "but, you know, minus the 'great' part and it would be all sad and stuff."

Leo's eyes widened. "You can't just say that!" He protested. "You have to break it to them slowly!"

"Why can't you guys do it?" I asked.

"'Cause we don't want to," Leo said, "and you guys already started telling them."

"Okay, fine!" Travis exclaimed, while throwing his hands up in the air. "C'mon Connor, we'll tell them now." We started to walk back to the clearing with everyone else.

"Where have you guys been?" Katie asked, while walking up to Travis, who put his arm around her waist.

"Um we were talking to Leo," I said. Then I realized something. "Hey, where's the others?" I asked that because the seven, plus Nico, weren't outside with everyone else.

"They went to sleep," Thalia said, stretching her arms over her head and yawning. "I think I'm going to be also."

"No!" Travis yelled, taking everyone aback. "We have to tell you all something."

"Well I"m going to be," Leo announced. As he was walking to the little house, he whisper to Travis and me, "Good luck."

I stared at him while he walked back to the little house. I turned back to everyone else, who were all sitting and staring at us. I looked at Travis. "You may start."

"What?!" He exclaimed. "Oh, no, I'm not saying it, you are."

"Whoa, déjà vu anyone?" Brett asked. Everyone (par Travis and I) nodded in agreement.

"What do you punks have to say?" Clarisse demanded.

"Ah, well..." I squeaked out. "PercyandAnnabethfellintoTartarus," I said really fast no one could understand, you know, except Travis.

"What?" They all questioned.

"Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus," Travis said quietly.

When I looked at everyone, they all had shocked faces. Thalia stood up and stormed over to the house. We all looked at each other and ran to the house. When we were close enough, we could hear Thalia yelling at everyone inside, demanding where Percy and Annabeth are. Next thing we know, Jason, Nico, Leo, and Frank were dragging Thalia out of the house, with Piper and Hazel right behind them.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jason demanded.

"I'm obviously trying to get to Percy and Annabeth," Thalia growled. "Why didn't they tell us? Why did they keep this to themselves and lie to us?"

"They didn't want you to," Piper said soothingly. "They need time to rest, leave them be until the next morning."

"Why didn't you guys help them?" Chris asked.

Nico and the rest of the seven looked down. "We tried," Hazel said, looking down. "We'll explain later."

"How did this happen?" Malcolm demanded. "How did they fall into that hellhole?"

They all glanced at each other wearily. "Answer the question!" Will said.

"We'll explain later," Jason said wearily, pushing the other of the seven back to the house.

Next thing we know, Thalia has Jason pinned to the wall of the house. "Answer the questions!" She snarled. Damn, that girl is scary. I bet Jason is 'bout to pee his pants.

"T-Thalia, w-we can't t-tell y-you," Jason stuttered.

I quickly got out of my shock after Jason stuttered that sentence out. "Why can't you tell us?" I asked. "This is important to us, Jason, we don't want to lose two of our best friends."

"Um, uh, um..." Jason looked at each of us. "Well...um, you see, the reason...um, the reason...uh..." He looked at Piper.

Piper sighed. "Guys, we can't tell you," She said, "because this is something we can't tell you until after the quest."

The door of the house opened and Thalia dropped Jason. Percy stepped out. "Hey, guys," He greeted. "I heard some noise so I went to check it out."

"Oh, um," Brett said. "I saw an _o_possum."

"Idiot!" Kylee hissed, smacking him on the back of the head. "The 'o' is silent."

"Oh," He said.

Percy looked at Brett oddly. "Um, okay," He said, then turned back to the res of us. "You guys heading to bed or what?"

"We'll be there in a minute," Thalia said as Percy nodded and went back inside. She then turned back to Jason and the rest of the seven, plus Nico. "I better hear the real story tomorrow." Then stomped back into the house.

"Sorry about Thalia," Grover said, whimpering slightly. "She's just stressed." Jason nodded as Grover went into the house.

"Um, we better go to bed, too," Nico said, yawning afterwards. Then going inside. Everyone followed after him, except Travis and I.

"They took it better than I thought," Travis said.

I nodded in agreement. "I'm surprised Grover didn't pass out," I snickered.

Travis laughed. "C'mon, bro, I'm tired," He said, walking into the house with me trailing behind.

* * *

**Sorry guys I didn't update, I've been really busy at home. Like I explained at the top. Anyway sorry that it's short and sorry about the long update. Hopefully you liked the chapter.**

**Anyway R&R. Love ya, cupcakes!**

**Nic**


	10. Sorry AN

**I'm so so so so so so so sorry for not updating guys. I've been sick lately and I've been having family problems. I rarely even get onto my laptop except for homework, I barely read any fanfics, I've been packed with homework. I'm putting this story on hiatus until I'm able to update again. I'm soooooooo sorry! I really am, but I'm not deleting my story, just putting it off for a break until I'm able to get back on. **

**And I've been having some problems with school. Since I'm so packed with homework I'm never able on the computer except for homework and I feel really upset for not updating. And since I was sick I'm packed with even more homework.**

**Recently my mom's uncle, my great-uncle, passed away. I don't know how but i do know that it's getting me really worked up. **

**Again, I'm so sorry for not updating! I'll take any criticism that you give me for not updating. i will try to update this weekend if I can.**

**Love you all,**

**Nic**


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